Light up the Darkness
by Indyctator
Summary: [Sequel to My Little Sister] After Xanxus' imprisonment and the accident with her father, Gioia needs to move on and face the dark world that is the Mafia.
1. The Guardian

**The Guardian**

There was no one in the room except for Dino who was sitting at the table, his expression grim. The blonde teenager looked up and gave his friend a weak smile.

"Sorry about making you enter by the backdoor. I thought it best if my parents didn't see you… Since the Vongola thing, they don't really… I mean, you know…" his voice trailed away as he glanced at Squalo with a shy apologetic look.

"Voii. Don't worry about it" Squalo grumbled as he and Cas took seats. "You said on the phone you wanted to talk about Gioia's… _adoption_?"

Dino cowered a little under his friend's threatening gaze. "Squalo, you both are orphans now…" he started, saying hesitantly. "While you were absent, the social services started asking questions that I didn't really know how to answer. But then… the Vongola intervened."

"What? WHY?!" Squalo felt cold sweat running down his back. Were the Vongola trying to take revenge on his sister?

"Well, your family attracted their attention" Dino spoke every word with caution, keeping a close eye on his friend's reactions. "First, your attack two months ago. Then, the incident with your father and Gioia. And your family has been working with the Vongola for some time so they know your name. So I think that's why they got curious about Gioia."

"What did they do?" Squalo's unusually calm voice terrified Dino.

"N-Nothing. I wasn't there when they came but I think they just talked to Gioia and proposed finding parents who could adopt her."

"_What the fuck_?!" Squalo exploded, banging his fists on the table. "Who the hell do they think they are? They won't take her! I won't let them!"

"Calm down, Squalo" Dino put a hesitant hand on his friend's arm. "We can find people who can take care of her."

Squalo suddenly calmed down and stared at his friend. "Dino…" Squalo whispered "Do you think you could… your parents could adopt her?"

Dino's pained expression immediately answered Squalo's question.

"I'm sorry I did it without telling you first… I already asked them but…" Dino tried to hold Squalo's gaze. "I'm sorry, Squalo, they refused because… because…"

"Because of me" Squalo ended the sentence in a soft whisper.

Dino watched his friend's expression growing darker with anxiety.

"Ahem" Cas cleared his throat, making both of them jump. "Sorry to interrupt but like I said to Dino earlier, the law makes adoption something really difficult to get and cannot be considered for Gioia. I think the best solution would be to have a legal guardian for her."

"But it's the same problem as the adoption. I'm still a minor" growled Squalo. "And so is Dino. Neither of us can be her guardians."

"I wasn't thinking about you."

"So what? _You_ would be her guardian?" Squalo shot a poisonous look at the cook. "Fuck no, I don't even know you that well!"

"No, not me" Cas quickly said with a smile. "I was thinking about someone who was taking care of her until recently." Seeing the two young men staring at him, he added: "The person who raised her."

Squalo and Dino turned to each other in bemusement. How could they have even forgotten about him?

* * *

Gioia took another step and felt all the muscles in her leg protest because of the tremendous effort it required. She cursed herself in silence. She should have been stronger and should have started the rehabilitation when the cast had been removed. Instead of that, she had let herself go because Squalo wasn't here and she now had to work even harder to be able to walk properly. With a groan, she made another painful step.

"You're really weak, peasant."

Gioia shot a poisonous look at the boy. Bel was apparently having a lot of fun watching her suffer every day. He would come to the rehabilitation center and stay for a couple of hours, regularly making unnecessary comments and randomly throwing knives at her when he got really bored. She was happy to have company but she would have preferred a more peaceful presence like Lussuria, even though "peaceful" wasn't really the word to describe the man.

"Can't you walk faster? I'm getting bored…"

"Shut up, Bel" she snapped. "The doctor says I'm making great progress and that I can leave soon!"

"Then get better sooner" mumbled Bel. "The Prince misses running after you…"

"To slash me with your knives…" Gioia thought with a sigh.

"And you haven't cooked anything for me in a long time!" continued the Prince.

"I get it, Bel. I'll work harder" she promised. "Bel" Gioia asked hesitantly "do you know what Nii-chan is doing? He doesn't come often…"

"I think the captain is getting everything ready for when you leave this boring place."

"Oh… Now I really want to leave this place as soon as possible."

* * *

Tanaka Shirou looked at the young man and his sister coming out of the car and couldn't help smiling. He had taken care of both children since they were born and truly considered them as his own.

Tanaka could still remember the day Pastiello Superbi had told him he would have to leave if he didn't want to see Gioia ending up in an orphanage. Tanaka couldn't imagine his little girl being completely abandoned and had decided to leave, not even getting a chance to say goodbye. Since that day, he had been guilt-ridden.

When Squalo had come to him and told him what had happened, he had first felt horrified and then, relieved. She was finally free from that man. Without an ounce of hesitation, Tanaka had immediately accepted Squalo's request and was now the legal guardian of both Squalo and Gioia. Tanaka had to force the young man to accept the offer of being his guardian as well. He had reminded him that despite his important status in the Mafia world, Squalo was still a minor and social services would not leave him alone.

Tanaka watched Squalo offering his hand to Gioia and the little girl's face brightened as she took it. She then waved at Tanaka with a wide smile and the old man felt his heart bursting with joy.

**Note:**

_So here I am with the first chapter of the sequel! Just to remind you: Cas is the cook working for Dino's family and the one who teaches cooking to Gioia :)_

_Anyway, this is totally NOT what I expected to write. After talking with my friend, new ideas kept popping up and well. I hope I won't disappoint you! __(oh and SORRY ABOUT THE SUMMARY. I promise I'll try to find smth better OTL)_

_I'd also like to thank the people without fanfiction accounts who left me reviews on My Little Sister :)_

_And thank you for taking time to read this! Have a nice day and see you next chapter! ^^_


	2. Blood-stained Knife

**Blood-stained knife**

Squalo entered the house with heavy steps. When he had left in the morning, he had thought his visit to the Varia's headquarters would have been brief but it was now the middle of the night and he was exhausted. The work at the headquarters was going slower than he thought.

When Squalo had returned to the Varia mansion four days after the Vongola mission, he had discovered that part of it had been completely destroyed. Supporters of the Vongola had taken advantage of his absence to attack and burn one part of the mansion. Squalo had been so pissed that he had tracked down the culprits and had slaughtered them all. Now, they were re-building the part of the mansion which had burned and which happened to be the officers' apartments. Levi and Mammon had decided to stay at the mansion to watch over the work while Squalo, Lussuria and Bel had temporarily moved to the Superbi house. Gioia and Tanaka had later joined them when she had been discharged from the rehabilitation center.

Squalo glanced at the stairs and growled. He was way too tired to go upstairs so he dragged his feet to the living room and collapsed on the sofa. Maybe he would bring Gioia with him tomorrow. He needed to go back to the Varia mansion and the little girl hadn't left the house since she had come home.

"She did say she liked it there…" whispered Squalo before drifting off to sleep.

* * *

Tanaka finished preparing the breakfast and left the kitchen to prepare the table. He entered the living room and was surprised to see Squalo asleep on the sofa. Knowing the slightest sound could wake the young man, he went back to the kitchen and prepared a cup of coffee. When he came back, Squalo was indeed awake and the old man offered him the coffee.

"Thanks" grumbled Squalo, taking the cup and sipping the beverage with a satisfied sigh. "What time is it?"

"Nine o'clock" smiled Tanaka. "I'm sorry I woke you up."

"That's okay. I already slept too much. Can you wake up Gioia? I want her to come with me today."

"Understood." With a slight bow, Tanaka left the room and went upstairs to wake up Gioia.

Like every day since she had come back from the rehabilitation center, the little girl had probably not slept in her bedroom. And since Squalo had spent the night downstairs, Tanaka knew she wouldn't be in his room. He painfully remembered the time when she used to sleep in her brother's room, considering it a safe place. But now, she would only sleep with someone next to her. And it worried the old man. With a shudder, Tanaka quickly passed in front of Lussuria's room. In his long life involved in the mafia world, he had met a lot of dangerous people but the colourful corpse-loving man was one of a kind and made him uneasy. The old butler finally arrived to the last room and entered quietly. He came up to the bed and let out a sigh.

Gioia was curled up against the wall while Bel was taking most of the space, one foot dangling from the bed. Tanaka frowned as he saw that Gioia had one hand on Bel's arm to prevent the knife he was holding to get too close to her. He really didn't understand the two children's relationship. When Takana had first met Bel, he had immediately labeled him as one of the most dangerous and insane people he had ever met. The child was violent, constantly craving for blood and basically everything Gioia didn't need in her life. At first, Tanaka had been surprised to see that the girl could actually be around him without her life being too threatened and she was even _getting along_ with him. But Tanaka knew this was probably due to her growing up in a violent and destructive environment. However, Tanaka frowned, even though Squalo assured him Bel wouldn't hurt Gioia, the old butler could just not approve this relationship. But he knew the girl wouldn't listen to him. Bel was the only friend of her age.

Tanaka gently shook Gioia and waited for her to be fully awake. She yawned and blinked before looking at him with a warm smile.

"Good morning, ojiisan" she mumbled.

"Good morning, little girl" Tanaka smiled back at her. "Squalo wants you to get ready. He's taking you with him today."

Hearing this, she got on her feet with a huge smile and kicked Bel. "Wake up, Princess! We're going out today!"

"Tch, that's no way to wake up a princess, peasant" snapped the half-asleep boy before burying himself under the blanket.

"Oh come on, Bel!" she pouted, letting herself fall to squash him before poking his cheek.

With a sigh, Tanaka wondered if anyone had ever squashed and poked the Prince and lived to talk about it.

* * *

Gioia got out of the car first and stared at the mansion, horrified.

"What happened?" she turned to Squalo. "Who did this?"

"Some trash who wanted to take revenge" snarled Squalo.

"Did you punish them?"

Surprised, Squalo stared at his sister who wore a serious look on her childish face.

"Ushishishi of course he did!" chided Bel. "We're talking about our _captain_. He wouldn't let that kind of trash get away with it!"

"Of course" repeated the little girl, looking back at the Varia mansion. "Is Boss here?" she suddenly asked with a smile full of expectations.

"No" answered Squalo. "Voiii, I already told you a hundred times that he…"

"… was gone" she finished, rolling her eyes. "_I know_. But maybe he'll come back!"

"He won't!" snapped Squalo. His sister stared at him, suspicious, and he chose to avoid her eyes, knowing they would see right through him.

"What happened during the mission?" she asked in a soft voice.

"Nothing."

"Are you sure?"

"VOIIII! I already told you it was none of your business!"

"Now, now" intervened Lussuria. "Let's stop here, okay? I think we should go inside so that I can take a look and see what I can do about the internal design!"

Both brother and sister let out a "tch!" before following Lussuria.

* * *

Two hours later, they were still listening to Lussuria talking about how lovely he would make the new apartments and Squalo was starting to grow really impatient.

"Now I think it would be _delightful_" sang Lussuria "if we could add _colours_ in the hallway! It would just brighten our everyday life!"

"No fucking way, Lussuria" growled Squalo.

"_I_ think" said Gioia, observing the hallway with great attention "that the walls would look perfect with _dinosaurs_! You could paint tyrannosaurs, raptors or compys! Every dinosaur you want!" She stood in the middle of the hallway, her eyes sparkling.

"It's not Jurassic fucking Park here!" snapped Squalo.

"I bet Boss would have said yes…" she pouted.

"No, he wouldn't" Squalo replied, taken aback.

Gioia was about to retort when the whole mansion shook with a deafening noise. Seconds later, shouts echoed in the hallway and a Varia member ran up to them.

"Captain! We're under attack!"

Squalo's eyes widened and he immediately turned to his little sister. For a split second, he felt panic creeping into him but the adrenaline quickly got rid of it and he turned to Lussuria.

"You find Levi and Mammon and go find the intruders. I'll be right behind you."

Lussuria nodded and left without a word, a smile forming on his lips.

"Bel!" snapped Squalo. "You take Gioia and get the hell out of here. Hide in the gardens."

"What?" protested the Prince. "I can fight! A Prince doesn't _hide_!"

"Just do it!" Squalo glared at the boy then sighed with frustration. "Come on, you're a prince! Aren't you supposed to save the girl?"

"Ushishishi, you're so _old-fashioned_, Captain" Bel smiled mockingly at Squalo before grabbing Gioia's hand and darting away.

"I swear I'm going to kill that kid one day" growled Squalo before charging at the intruders who had appeared at the corner of the hallway.

"Peasant, you're slow."

"M-May I just remind you" growled Gioia, already out of breath "that I've just recovered from a b-broken leg?!"

"Weak" scoffed Bel.

Gioia was ready to talk back when he suddenly stopped and she ran into him.

"What is it?" she asked, confused.

"Guests!" With a carnivorous smile, the boy leapt into action and before Gioia could realize what was going on, two men were lying on the floor, their throats neatly sliced. Grinning, Bel threw a knife at her and she swiftly caught it. "I know you're hopeless with knives but keep it for now."

"Thanks" she pouted. "Please stop saying I'm hopeless…"

Bel chuckled. Then they heard voices approaching and he pushed Gioia behind him, his knives ready to spill blood again. Gioia swore as she saw six men coming at them.

"Not very polite, peasant" remarked Bel before rushing to meet his enemies. He quickly got rid of the first two men but found it a bit unfair when the remaining men charged at him. With swift moves, he killed his three opponents.

And then, he heard Gioia screaming.

"Ah… I think there were _six_ of them" he thought.

* * *

Squalo sighed with relief when he saw the two little figures approaching. His eyes widened when he discovered his sister was covered in blood. He rushed to her and kneeled before her, checking her arms and legs for an injury.

"Where did you get hurt?" he asked, panicked. "WHERE?!"

"Nii-chan" she took one of his hands and squeezed it gently. "I'm not hurt. Bel protected me!"

Squalo glanced at the boy who was sulking.

"Why are you making that face?" Squalo frowned.

Bel remained silent.

"I think he's sulking" explained Gioia "because I saved his life." And with a proud smile, she showed her brother a blood-stained knife.

It felt as if someone had punched him. _Hard_. Squalo stared at his little sister, covered in blood and smiling. He shook his head, clenching his teeth.

"No" he thought. "That's not what I wanted for her."

**Note:**

_Ehehehehe yes! Already an update! I had some time at college to work on this so here it is :D Consider it as the real beginning of this sequel. The first chapter was more like a prologue ^^_

_Quick note on Japanese honorifics: So here, I used "ojiisan" which means "grandfather". I decided to use the Japanese honorifics because... Japanese is her second language so __Gioia would use them, that's all. _So expect things like "kun" or "san" to appear in this fic! 

_**THANK YOU SO MUCH for coming back to read this sequel!** I'm really happy to see you all! I swear it feels like coming back home or something *sobs* Thank you very much for the follows, the favorites and the reviews! _

_**a simple fan**: Thank you very much for your review! I really hope you'll like the sequel as well! Your review on the last chapter of My Little Sister also made me very happy! Really, thank you!_

_Thank you for taking time to read! I hope I'll have time to update soon :) Have a nice day and see you next chapter!_


	3. Smashed Tomatoes

**Smashed Tomatoes**

Cas had just finished gathering the ingredients when Gioia entered the kitchen. When the young cook recognized the little girl, he smiled at her and opened his arms. Gioia ran to him, laughing, and he lifted the girl, engulfing her in a tight hug.

"About time" he sighed. "I thought you'd never come again!"

"I'm sorry, Cas…" she said, looking up at him with guilty eyes. "A lot of things happened…"

"It's okay" he smiled before kissing her forehead and putting her down. "Want to help me prepare dinner?"

"Yes!" she saluted him with a grin.

Cas nodded at the fresh vegetables and watched her getting ready to cook. He couldn't help smiling. When Dino had first introduced Gioia to him, he had immediately appreciated the girl because of her endless interest in cooking. In a few weeks, he had grown used to regularly have the little girl around him. They would spend hours together; Cas would give her tips about cooking while Gioia would talk about everything that'd come to her mind. It was only when she had spent months at the hospital that he had realized how much he cared about her. He had managed to visit her a few times while she was at the hospital but it had been months since he had seen his favourite assistant working in his kitchen.

Cas frowned. Gioia had finally started cutting the vegetables but something was wrong. Gioia was a very good apprentice and she had quickly understood that Cas liked things to be done with care and precision. So when Cas asked to cut vegetables, she would cut them neatly. But right now, she was cutting the tomatoes in uneven bits and was holding the knife in an awkward way, as if it was the first time she held one.

"What's up, kid?"

"Cas" she said in a soft voice. "You're working for the Mafia, right?"

"Yes" he glanced at her, curious.

"Have you ever killed someone?"

The question caught Cas off guard and he stared at her for a moment. Gioia's eyes were locked on the knife she was holding, her face expressionless.

"Yes, I have" he finally answered, knowing Gioia hated being treated as a child and preferred being told the truth, no matter how horrible it was. Hearing this, she finally stopped cutting and looked up at him.

"How did you feel when you first killed someone?" she asked, her eyes getting wider.

"It's difficult to say" he answered after a pause. "I know I'll never forget it but I can't really say how I felt. When I was a kid, a burglar broke into my house and killed my parents. I survived because my mom hid me in a closet. A couple of years later, I found him and killed him. To be honest, I felt better after I killed that man. But at the same time, it made me sick." He realized he had unconsciously clenched his fist and released it with a sigh. "Why are you asking me this, Gioia?"

The girl had been listening to him with great attention and she suddenly resumed cutting vegetables.

"Two days ago" she muttered "I… killed someone."

Cas felt his heart sink. When he had heard Gioia's question, he had immediately feared that. But part of him had prayed that he was wrong. Cas clearly remembered how messed up he was after he had killed that burglar. It was because of that murder that he had ended up running away from the police and living in the streets before getting involved with the mafia to earn some money to survive. He was thirteen when he had revenged his parents' death. Gioia was only _seven_. How could a seven year old kid deal with something that terrible?

"What happened?" he asked.

"Bel was in danger. I _had to_ help him. I didn't think and just jumped on the bad man. I had a knife and when I jumped on his back, it hit his… _bone_" Gioia started to cut the tomatoes faster, red juice all over the kitchen utensil. "It was so… _hard_. It hurt. I didn't think it would… hurt. When I felt the pain in my hand, I suddenly remembered what Nii-chan and Bel taught me. I calmed down and looked for the caro-carot… Bel says there's something important in the neck and that if you cut it, the person dies. But Bel is a bit annoying when he talks about how precise he is with his knives so I never really listened and I didn't know where the carot-thing was… So I just stabbed the neck." The little girl stopped cutting, smashed tomatoes all over her hands and her apron. "There was so much _blood_, Cas… I don't understand. It's not like in the movies. There isn't so much blood in Jurassic Park when dinosaurs eat humans. But when I stabbed him, there was blood everywhere…"

Cas was looking at the little girl, feeling a mix of pity and sadness. Gioia's eyes were unusually wide and her breathing was shallow. He was about to reach for her hand when she suddenly looked up at him and _smiled_.

"But you're right, Cas! I really feel better. That bad man was going to kill Bel so I had to do it. And now, it's like I'm closer to Nii-chan!" Her breathing had become more regular and she beamed at Cas, like she usually would when she was talking about Squalo. "Now I know more about Nii-chan and what he's doing!"

Cas stared at her, baffled. He just didn't know how to react. When she had started to talk, he had feared she might be suffering from some sort of posttraumatic stress disorder but Gioia's mind had reacted in a much trickier way to cope with the horror she had experienced.

"Gioia" Cas finally said "do you think that what you did was _good_?"

The little girl gazed at him in surprise.

"Did I…" she said, now looking confused. "Did I do something wrong?"

"I just want to know what you think" Cas quickly said in a gentle voice to reassure her. The last thing he wanted was Gioia's mind to collapse because of something he had said.

"I think I did the right thing" she said before adding in a barely audible whisper "but I didn't like it…"

Relief overwhelmed the young cook as he heard her last words. He could see pain in Gioia's eyes and that was enough for him. With a kind smile, he took both her hands and squeezed them.

"Now tell me one thing, little girl. What do you want to become later?"

"A cook, of course" she immediately answered, startled.

"Of course" Cas nodded before releasing her hands.

He really had to talk to Squalo.

**Note:**

_A short chapter focused on Gioia. I hope you liked it!_

_About Cas' story, it's like a tribute to that teacher who saved her kids during the Newtown shooting. I'm still feeling really sad about what happened and I don't know. I just wanted to write it down in my story._

_As always,** thank you really much for taking time to read, to review and to follow!** _

_Have a nice day and see you next time! ^^_


	4. True Nature

**True nature**

Squalo closed the file and put it on the top of a huge pile. The Varia needed money to pay off the headquarters' repairs so it was time to take jobs. The captain had to go through hundreds of propositions to find missions that would bring a lot of money as soon as possible. With a heavy sigh, he leaned back on his chair and tried to take a short nap. But his eyes immediately snapped open.

For the past few days, the same image would haunt Squalo whenever he was trying to sleep. He just couldn't get the image of his sister covered with blood out of his mind. At first, it puzzled him. Was he shocked because Gioia was only a kid? But he had seen Bel covered with blood so many times and it hadn't shocked him even once. No, what upset him was that Gioia shouldn't have had to kill anyone because she wasn't that kind of person. She wasn't a killer. _He_ was.

As far as he could remember, Squalo had felt this intense blood thirst. He always had this monster lurking within him, constantly keeping him edgy and unsettled. The only way to temporarily get rid of this unquenchable thirst was killing. The rush of adrenaline during a fight, the satisfaction of overwhelming your opponent, the moment he could see the life fading away from his enemy's eyes, that was when he felt free from this thirst. That's when he was truly enjoying himself. There was only one moment when he would feel the same way: when he was with his sister. For some reason, she had always managed to make him feel at ease. Even when she managed to make him _really _pissed, he would still somehow feel calm. She was that kind of person. He was born a monster. She wasn't.

Squalo buried his face in his hands. She had looked at him with such pride, waiting for him to congratulate her on her first kill. Why was this happening? Why did his precious sister have to be stained by something like that? Squalo let out a bitter laugh. He perfectly knew why. It was his fault…

The door burst open, saving him from painful thoughts.

"I just got a call from school" announced a slightly bewildered Tanaka. "They want us to come at once."

Squalo swore and followed the old man. Gioia had just gone back to school today and there was already trouble. He had thought it would best for her to go back to school after spending months at the hospital. He was apparently wrong.

* * *

"What's wrong, Squalo?"

Squalo glanced at Tanaka who was driving. The old butler wasn't even looking at him but he had nonetheless felt something bothered Squalo.

"Do you think I should… stay away from her for a while?" said Squalo, nervously fiddling with his sleeve. From the corner of his eye, he saw Tanaka looking at him with surprise but kept looking down at his hands.

"I don't think that's the best solution" Tanaka finally answered. "I think you remember how disastrous it was the last time you did this…"

Squalo didn't say anything. The old man's words had felt like a cold shower.

"You'll go back to the Varia's headquarters really soon, right?"

"Y-Yes." Bel and Lussuria had already left the Superbi house a few days ago. Squalo had decided to stay a bit more to spend some time with Gioia. But in the end, he had been too busy picking up missions that he hadn't granted any real time to his sister. "Why do you ask?"

"I was actually thinking about moving with Gioia."

"What?!" Squalo stared at Tanaka with disbelief.

"Did you notice how she hasn't slept alone even once since she came back to the house?" Tanaka simply asked.

"Yeah but…"

"I think she's still not feeling safe in this house. She'd feel better if we moved to another place. She could also change schools and I think that'd be good too."

"Maybe…"

"You're worried about what happened last week?"

"Yes." Squalo resumed fiddling with his sleeve, waiting for Tanaka to say something. As the old man remained silent, Squalo took a deep breath before talking. "I didn't expect her to… react that way. If you had seen how she looked at me. As if that was what I was _expecting_ of her. And after that, it seemed like she didn't even care. She just looks so… _okay_ with it"

"She's _not_" Tanaka abruptly said. "Trust me, she's not okay with it. She's just putting on a brave front for you. I didn't get a chance to tell you since you were busy but I got a call from that cook working for Dino. Gioia went to see him and she was upset about what she did. She didn't like it, Squalo."

Relief overwhelmed Squalo as he heard what he had wanted to hear for _days_.

"I hope you realize that she's not… like you. I'm not judging you but I'm simply saying you chose a path that she can't follow."

"I know" Squalo bitterly answered, doing his best not to sound offended and angry. He knew Tanaka was always considering the best for both Gioia and him but it still was painful to hear this. "Why did she pretend then?"

"You know she worships you. I guess she just wanted you to think she's as strong as you."

"Stupid kid…" he growled.

"Don't be too hard on her!" Tanaka smiled. "So about you going back to the Varia; I thought it'd be nice if she could visit you every weekend like she used to. That way, you can both follow the path you've chosen and still see each other. What do you think?"

Squalo fell silent and looked outside the window, letting the words sink in.

* * *

Squalo felt really annoyed by the way the teacher disapprovingly looked at him when they entered the principal's office. He had seen Gioia waiting in the hallway but hadn't had the chance to speak to her before the teacher told them to enter the office.

"I am sorry to say Gioia has once again showed unacceptable behavior in our school" said the principal with a severe look. "And right on her first day!"

"What happened?" asked Tanaka.

"She threw a pair of goggles at me" the teacher came forward.

"What?! Why?" blurted out Squalo.

"Does it matter?!" snapped the teacher. "Your sister had already hit a classmate some months ago. This time, she threw something at me!"

"Don't make it sound so dramatic! It was just a pair of _goggles_" Squalo scoffed.

"_Just_ a pair of goggles?! Maybe today it was. But who knows what she'll do tomorrow!" replied the angry teacher before looking down at Squalo with judgmental eyes. "Now, that would certainly not have happened if your father had been here to deal with her!"

Squalo banged his fists on the desk, making the two women jump.

"VOIIII! DON'T YOU DARE FUC-"

"_Squalo_!" snapped Tanaka, immediately silencing Squalo. It was the first time the old butler had shown anger. "Get out of here and wait outside. I'll handle things here."

Squalo was so startled by Tanaka's sudden anger that he just left the room without a word. He closed the door and sat next to his sister. Gioia looked up at him with an amused smile.

"I like your self-control, Nii-chan."

"_Shut up_" hissed Squalo as she quietly laughed. He glanced at her. "What happened, brat?"

Gioia's smile immediately faded away and she looked down at her feet.

"Voii, tell me what happened! I promise I won't get mad at you."

"We had a swimming lesson today… so we had to dive in and swim underwater. I said that I didn't want to… that I _couldn't_ go in the water… but she didn't listen and tried to force me. I just panicked."

Squalo stared at her for a moment. Of course she would be terrorized by water after what their father had tried to do. He wondered if she would ever be able to go underwater.

"And you threw… a pair of _goggles_ at her?" asked Squalo, avoiding to talk about his sister's trauma.

"Well, it was either goggles or a chair."

"I would have thrown the chair" smiled Squalo.

"I'm sure" she laughed.

"You really don't like this school, right?"

Gioia stiffened then nodded. Squalo observed her as he remembered his conversation with Tanaka. Maybe it was time to take a decision.

"Let me propose you something" he said with caution as she looked up at him, curious. "You know that I'll have to go back to the headquarters soon, right?" She nodded. "What do you think about moving with Tanaka to another place? Changing schools? And then, you can visit me every weekend? Or maybe, every two weekends? So you can see that dumbass Dino too!"

The little girl stared at him for a long time, making him feel slightly uncomfortable.

"You really want me to say yes…" she finally stated in a neutral voice.

Squalo couldn't answer anything. As always, she had seen right through him.

"Let's make a deal" she added.

"What kind of deal?"

"I'll accept if you agree to answer one question and to say the truth."

He eyed his sister warily, wondering if that was a good idea. He really wanted her to accept Tanaka's plan but he was also afraid of what she might ask. She was so quick-witted that she sometimes scared him.

"… Deal. Ask your question" he reluctantly said.

"What happened to Boss?"

Squalo felt his heart sink and swore under his breath. She had been asking ever since he had come back to her and he had always refused to answer, even telling Bel and the others to stay quiet about this. Now he didn't have a choice. With a defeated sigh, he told her everything and watched her face slowly getting sad. When he was finished, he glanced at her, waiting to see how she would react.

"Thanks for telling me" she finally said. She left her seat and stood in front of him. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm… okay, I guess" mumbled Squalo, confused by her question. Why was she asking how he was _feeling_?

"Hang in there, Nii-chan. I'm sure he'll come back." She tenderly smiled at him and hugged him.

Squalo felt a weight getting off his shoulders. A weight he hadn't realized was there. With a smile, he realized that he and Tanaka were right. That was Gioia's true nature.

* * *

Gioia opened the apartment's door without making any noise and stealthily headed to the kitchen.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Gioia stopped and turned to discover Tanaka sitting in his armchair.

"I just want a glass of water" she smiled.

"You know that you first need to study before you get Dinosaurus biscuits" he said with a severe look. "And I hid them anyway. I know you've been eating them in secret."

"But it's Friday, ojiisan!" sighed Gioia. "There's no school tomorrow so why do I have to study?"

"You know exactly why. Now go in your room and do some mathematics."

Gioia pouted but obeyed nonetheless. Tanaka was never joking with studying. She sat at her desk and opened her textbook. Just looking at all the numbers gave her headache. With a sigh, she rested her head on the desk. She was looking forward to tomorrow because she would go to the Varia's headquarters. Seeing Squalo once every two weeks was difficult but she had gotten used to it in the last year. She cherished every moment she spent there. There was only one thing missing to make her truly happy.

Gioia closed her eyes, feeling embarrassed. When Squalo had told her Xanxus was kept in the Vongola's headquarters, she had been determined to do something about it. She had gathered information about the Vongola by asking Cas, Dino and Tanaka, trying not to get their attention. It had taken her a few weeks to remember the two people who had come to visit her at the hospital. They had said they were Vongola and had left a phone number. Gioia was so meticulous about her things that she had immediately found it and had called them. She had harassed them for days, saying that she needed to talk to the Vongola's boss about an urgent problem. And she somehow had managed to get him. She had explained everything to him: who she was, how she had got the number, how Xanxus was not as bad as they thought and that they should release him. The man had just quietly laughed and told her that she was being brave but it wasn't her place to ask such a thing. Gioia had said nothing to anyone about this phone call. She had thought she was clever enough to get Xanxus out but hearing the Vongola's boss laughing at her had made her realize how stupid she actually was. Gioia laughed. Squalo and Xanxus would definitely kill her if they knew what she had done.

She sat up straight and shook her head to clear her thoughts. It wasn't time to feel embarrassed about something that happened months ago. She had to study otherwise Tanaka wouldn't allow her to have biscuits and to go to her brother the next day. With a resigned frown, she took her pen and started calculating.

**Note:**

_A slightly longer chapter this time :) I hope you didn't find it too dumb. I really wanted to focus on Squalo this time and I hope I didn't screw up. You have no idea how much I miss the Varia... I wish Amano had made them appear more *sobs*_

_**Kichimairi**: I hope you liked this chapter! :D I was happy when you asked about how Squalo would deal with what happened! ^^_

_**Thank you for reading and leaving reviews! **_

_Have a nice day and see you next chapter! :]_


	5. Last Wish

**Last wish**

Dino entered his office and let out a deep sigh as he collapsed on the couch. Being a Varia boss was so tiring.

"Aren't you supposed to be working?"

Dino straightened up with a start. A 14 year old girl was sitting on his desk with an amused grin on her face.

"I already told you to stop doing that!" Dino whined. "Make yourself noticeable!"

"Sorry, bad habit."

Gioia barely had time to get down from the desk when Dino jumped at her and squeezed her in a hug.

"I missed you so much!" he sobbed. "I haven't seen you in ages!"

"Two weeks, actually" Gioia managed to say. "I can't _breathe_, Dino…"

"Why are you so cold…" he pouted as he finally let go. "Now that you're leaving, I won't be able to see you that much!"

"Oh come on!" she rolled her eyes. "We'll still see each other! You often go there to see that mysterious little brother of yours!"

"Is that jealousy I hear?" he teased her. As she refused to answer, he sighed. "But I guess you're right. I often go to Japan to check on him so we'll definitely see each other."

"Who is he anyway?" she asked. "Reborn left for him so I guess he must be important, right?"

"Haha yeah, you could say that…"

Dino tried hard to avoid her insistent eyes. Reborn had made Dino swear he wouldn't say anything about Tsuna to Gioia and the young boss certainly didn't want to face Reborn's wrath. But he still felt uncomfortable about hiding things from her. However, it soon wouldn't be his problem anymore. Gioia was going to live in Namimori and knowing how she was, she would quickly find out who Tsuna was.

"When are you leaving?" he asked, trying to distract her.

"Tomorrow morning."

"What?! And you're coming to see me only _now_!"

"Well, you and Cas are the only ones I needed to see and I just wanted to come right before I leave."

"Have you told Squalo you were leaving?" Dino frowned.

"I left him a message on his phone" she said in a soft voice.

"What? A message?!"

"I haven't seen him in months. And we hardly talk on the phone. He's been really busy lately."

"I can't believe he's doing that again…" Dino sighed, thinking he'd give Squalo a call to scold him.

"Dino" Gioia stared at him with severe eyes "don't even think about calling him!"

"But…"

"Just don't! Nii-chan probably has his reasons and I'm okay with this. I have other things to worry about" she added, her face hardening.

"How is Tanaka?" Dino finally asked. He knew it would be useless to argue with Gioia. Once she had decided something, nothing could change her mind. And she was also someone he didn't want to disappoint.

"Not that well…" she answered with concern. "He was admitted to the hospital last week."

"I'm sure he'll get better when you'll be with him" Dino smiled as he wrapped one arm around the girl's shoulders. But Gioia said nothing and kept staring at the floor, clearly worried. Dino observed her for a moment then tried something else to cheer her up. "Hey, what do you think about asking Cas a bowl of ice cream and we watch a movie together, hm? Before you leave!"

Gioia looked up at him then nodded with a smile. Dino gently kissed her forehead and led her out of the office.

"Let's watch… J-Jurassic Park! That's one of your favourites, right?" proposed Dino in an unsteady voice.

"Are you sure?" she grinned. "Last time, you ended up having nightmares and wouldn't sleep by yourself."

"W-What are you talking about?! That was ages ago! I'm no longer scared!"

"Yeah, sure" she laughed. "That happened _last year_…"

"Shut up!"

* * *

Gioia threw herself on the couch and buried her face in a pillow. She had just arrived in her new apartment in Namimori and was feeling completely empty.

One year ago, Tanaka had collapsed and Gioia couldn't help blaming herself. She thought middle school would go smoothly but she had ended up being with the kids who used to bully her. However, she didn't want to be that little girl who let people ruin her life anymore. So she had fought back, eventually getting in trouble too often and causing Tanaka too much worry. She thought that if she changed her behaviour and took care of the old man, he would get better. But his condition had only worsened.

Then six months ago, he had made her sit in the living room and had explained to her that his last wish was to finish his days in his home country. Taking care not to show her sudden panic, she had listened to him, saying she understood. She needed to finish her school year in Italy before transferring to Japan and that meant she couldn't leave immediately. Six months were left in the school year and the first thing she could think about was: would Tanaka live long enough? So gathering all the courage she could, Gioia had finally proposed that he went first and she would join him later. After long discussions and Gioia assuring him she wasn't really alone since Squalo, Dino and Cas were there, Tanaka had finally accepted and left. Those six months had been tough on her. In addition to Tanaka's leave, Squalo had completely shut her out, claiming he was working on something really important. She had spent six months living by herself and spending most of her free time with Cas and Dino when he wasn't too busy.

Now, she was finally in Namimori and couldn't get herself to leave that couch and go to the hospital. She couldn't face Tanaka because she was just so scared. Scared he was abandoning her, leaving her on her own, when she had decided to start a new life here and especially, enter a new school in a few days. What if it all went wrong?

"VOIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII! Stop being such a weak brat and GET UP!"

Gioia's eyes snapped open and darted around the room. She was almost expecting her brother to be here, pointing a sword at her and looking really pissed. With a faint smile, she got a grip of herself and finally left the couch.

* * *

Gioia gently knocked on the door and entered. She let out a sigh of relief as she looked around the room. Hospitals were a synonym of abandonment and loneliness for her since she was a kid and she had feared Tanaka would never feel comfortable in such a place. However, the room was small but bright and gave a peaceful feeling. A pile of books was resting on the bedside table where the old man had taken care of disposing two pictures: one of him and Gioia and a rare photo of the girl with her brother.

Gathering courage, Gioia finally looked at the old butler who had been patiently waiting for her to acknowledge him. Once again, she felt relief warming her heart and ran up to Tanaka to hug him.

"You look well, Ojiisan!" she beamed at him.

"That's because my little girl is finally here" he answered in a warm voice, his eyes tearing up. "How are you, Gioia? Is it me or have you gained weight?" he added with a frown.

"_Ojiisan_!" she whined, disappointed. "Why are you saying this when we haven't seen each other for months!?"

"Sorry" he chuckled. "Now tell me everything! How was your trip? Did you have any problems?"

Gioia started babbling on and on about every random detail she could think about, making great gestures as she described the plane's take-off and landing, showing the very first purchase, a train ticket, she had made in Japan and boasting about the fact she could talk Japanese without any problem. Tanaka just kept listening to her, smiling and nodding, utterly happy to have her by his side once again. After an hour, she noticed that he looked tired and decided to let him rest. She hugged him once more and waved him goodbye with a smile.

"Gioia" he called her as she was leaving the room "I was serious about your weight."

The girl flinched at the severe look of her guardian.

"Don't worry, Ojiisan. I'll do something about it…"

He nodded and she left the room. She leaned against the door and stared at her thighs with despair. Gioia was still aiming at becoming a cook and she made a point of tasting every kind of food she could find, especially cakes and pastries. Unfortunately, her body gained weight really fast. Tanaka had noticed that in no time and had made her choose an activity that would help her keep her weight. For seven years, she had practiced capoeira in a small club until she had stopped a month ago to prepare for her leave. And it was already showing on her body… With a sigh, she looked at the people around her, envying all of them who could eat without gaining weight. She definitely had to find a club in Namimori. Schools in Japan were famous for all the clubs they proposed so she wasn't too worried about that.

Speaking of school, the hospital seemed to be packed with middle schoolers. Most of them were standing in the hall, urgently talking, but she spotted a couple of them seriously beaten up with bruises, casts and swollen cheeks. She noticed a tall guy with a complicated hairstyle standing in the middle of the crowd, calmer than the others, and she approached him, unable to stop her curiosity.

"Excuse me but is something going on?"

Startled by the sudden appearance, he stared at her for a moment, making Gioia feel a bit uneasy. Now that she was closer to him, she could feel what some people would call a "yankee" atmosphere surrounding him but she knew better than to judge people by their appearance.

"Students from Namimori middle school have been attacked" he finally answered. "You're new, right? I've never seen you in school before."

"I just arrived today. My name's Gioia Gandor" she smiled and bowed before him. "I'll start school in a few days."

"Oh, I see. I'm Kusakabe Tetsuya of the Disciplinary Committee of Namimori middle school. Nice to meet you. I hope you'll like it here. Now if you'll excuse me, Hibari-san is waiting for me."

He gave a short bow and left her. Gioia headed for the elevator, still observing closely the students gathered in the hall. Whoever attacked them hadn't gone easy on them. She flinched as she saw a boy who couldn't even open his eye because of a huge black eye. She was watching the elevator's doors closing when someone stopped them and a group of boys, including Kusakabe, got in. Gioia expected them to speak about the attacks but they all remained silent and she was pretty sure no one had noticed her. "I wonder if they'd freak out if I shouted out of the blue" she thought, failing to suppress a chuckle.

The reaction was instantaneous. They all turned around with a start except for one of them who took out tonfas and pinned her against the wall. Thanks to years of fighting with Bel, Gioia had pretty good reflexes and had stopped the weapon with both her hands, saving her throat from being crushed by the sudden attack.

"Sorry" she quickly said, baffled.

Gioia stared into the cold grey eyes of the boy. With one glance, she could tell he was someone not to be messed with. He had that dangerous aura all of the Varia officers shared.

"Since when have you been here, herbivore?" he slowly asked, still restraining her.

"Since you got in…"

He stared into her eyes for a few agonizing seconds before looking down at her hands. He slightly raised an eyebrow then finally let go and took away his weapons.

"Make yourself noticeable, herbivore."

She nodded but the doors had opened and the boy had already left. She gave Kusakabe an apologetic smile and watched them disappear in the crowd. Finally alone, she rubbed her hands and winced in pain. What a nice way to begin her life here…

**Note:**

_I wanted to give a lot of information in this chapter and it took me so much time to make it not too messy... Well, I hope I managed to do so ^^"_

_And that's it! She's finally in Namimori and will soon meet Tsuna and the others~! I hesitated a lot about the reason why she would be in Namimori and finally came up with this :) I hope it doesn't look too far-fetched!_

_Anyway,** thank you for reading! And thank you for the lovely reviews, the follows and the favorites! :D**_

_Have a nice day and see you next time! ^^_


	6. The Mysterious Little Brother

**Chapter 6: The mysterious little brother**

Gokudera knocked on the door and entered the hospital room with a bright smile.

"Juudaime, I brought you some hot chocolate!"

Tsuna looked up at his friend, apparently on the verge of tears. On his knees rested a textbook and his tiny home tutor was sitting next to him, a wooden stick in his hands and a stern look on his face.

"Oh, you're already studying even though you haven't recovered yet, Juudaime! You really are impressive!"

"Isn't he?" smirked Reborn.

"Gokudera-kun" whined Tsuna.

Gokudera was about to answer when Reborn suddenly charged him. While Tsuna let out a hysteric "HIIIIII", Gokudera stood frozen as the Arcobaleno rushed past him and got out of the room. He turned to see Reborn grabbing a girl and dragging her in by holding her arm in a painful twist. After closing the door, he finally let go of her and pointed a gun at her head. The girl slowly lifted her arms, staring directly in Reborn's eyes. Sensing the potential danger, Gokudera had positioned himself in front of Tsuna's bed.

"What are you doing here?" asked the Arcobaleno, his voice making it clear he wouldn't hesitate to shoot if he didn't like the answer.

"_Come on_, Reborn" she complained. "I'm pretty sure Dino told you I was coming! Tanaka-jiisan is staying at this hospital!"

"Wait" interrupted Tsuna. "You _know_ her?"

"Of course he knows me" she said, glancing at the boy. Gokudera could have sworn he had seen a spark of interest in her eyes as she had looked at his boss. Whoever she was, he decided he didn't like her.

"So let her go, Reborn!" asked Tsuna. "She's a friend of Dino's, right?"

Reborn looked intently at her for a moment before lowering his gun.

"That doesn't mean I trust you" warned Reborn as she rubbed the arm he had grabbed.

"I know" she sighed before looking at Tsuna and Gokudera. "I'm Gioia Gandor. Just call me Gioia! Nice to meet you!"

"Nice to meet you, Gioia-san" answered Tsuna. "I'm Sawada Tsunayoshi and you can call me Tsuna."

Gioia nodded with a smile then glance at Gokudera but he just ignored her.

"This is my friend, Gokudera Hayato" said Tsuna, embarrassed.

"I'm Juudaime's right-hand man so you better not try anything stupid, woman" Gokudera glared at her.

"Right-hand man?"

Once again, Gokudera saw her eyes sparkling with interest and he did his best not to shove her when she got closer to Tsuna. He watched his boss blushing as Gioia was examining him. Now that she was close, Gokudera could see a scar barring her cheekbone under her left eye and couldn't help staring at it, fascinated.

"Wondering about this?" Gioia pointed at the scar with a sigh. Tsuna must have been staring too because he quickly looked down, embarrassed. "Got it in a fight. Luckily for me, my friend was way too angry to aim properly so he missed. Otherwise I would have lost an eye" she chuckled.

Gokudera and Tsuna didn't answer, shocked. What kind of friends did she have?

"What the hell do you want anyway?" growled Gokudera, as she had resumed her close examination of Tsuna. Gioia ignored his question but backed away when Reborn cleared his throat impatiently.

"Dino's mysterious little brother certainly is interesting" she said to Reborn before she grinned at Tsuna. "Anyway, I'll let you rest. I think I'll see you at school."

She was about to get out when the door opened on a beaming Yamamoto. Gokudera noticed she froze for a second before looking down and leaving hastily.

"Who was she?" Yamamoto asked, surprised.

"Some weird stupid girl" answered Gokudera. "What are you doing here, baseball freak?"

"Just checking on Tsuna!" Yamamoto smiled.

"I'm already checking on him so you can get out!"

"Come on, Gokudera! Don't be like this!" Yamamoto laughed as he sat on Tsuna's bed.

* * *

Gioia felt someone staring at her and she looked up to discover Gokudera glaring. Since their first meeting at the hospital, she knew the boy didn't trust her and even disliked her. However, she had chosen to ignore it because she had quickly understood the boy was overprotective towards the person he considered the most important and that was something Gioia could relate to. But above all, she knew it would make him too satisfied if she showed her discomfort.

"Good morning, Gokudera-kun" she said with a cheerful smile.

The boy seemed a little taken aback by her greeting but ignored her and sat at his desk.

"And good morning, Tsuna-kun" she added to the boy sitting in front of her.

"Ah, good morning, Gioia-san!" Tsuna turned to face her. "So it's your first day here?"

Gioia simply nodded. She suddenly felt a lot of pressure on her shoulders, knowing she would certainly have to introduce herself in front of the class.

"Don't worry; it's going to be okay!"

For a moment, Gioia observed the grinning boy who reminded her of Dino and his eternally warm smile. Even though they had just met, Tsuna was offering her a kind and encouraging smile. She surprised herself wondering if she could trust him and even become his friend. Gokudera growling behind the boy quickly reminded her that she would have to convince him before approaching Tsuna. Amused by the boy's attitude, Gioia absent-mindedly reached for the dinosaur pendant that never left her neck, thinking that things could be pretty interesting and fun in Namimori.

Of course, that was before her first math lesson where she drowned in numbers and letters… And the fact that her neighbour in class was Yamamoto Takeshi, the cute boy she had seen entering Tsuna's room, didn't help her concentrate at all.

* * *

Kusakabe got out of the Disciplinary Committee office and was surprised to see a girl wandering in the hallway. Students usually avoided this part of school because you never knew when Hibari could turn up or worse, a pissed Hibari.

"What are you doing here?" he growled, irritated.

The girl turned and he immediately recognized her.

"Oh, it's you" he said in a gentler voice. "Shouldn't you be on your way home?"

"I was looking for the library and I got… lost" Gioia mumbled.

Kusakabe couldn't help chuckling because of her obvious embarrassment.

"Nobody showed you round?"

"Well, I asked but that dumb right-hand man shooed me away…" she explained, pouting. "Should have waited for Tsuna… I'm gonna get my revenge on that idiot."

Kusakabe didn't quite understand what she was talking about but was truly amused by her childish behaviour.

"I can spare you five minutes and show you round if you want" he proposed.

"Really?" she looked up at him with sparkling eyes.

"Let's go then" he quickly said, trying not to laugh as she definitely looked like a kid.

In fifteen minutes, Kusakabe showed her where the main places like the library, the cafeteria and the science rooms were and which stairs she should use to go faster to her class room if she was late. Finally in the main hall, he clearly instructed her not to come to the Disciplinary Committee hallway to avoid Hibari.

"Hibari is that guy who reacted a bit violently in the elevator?"

"Yes. He's the President of the Disciplinary Committee. You better behave yourself or we'll have to deal with you."

"Don't worry! I'll follow rules" she assured.

"There you are, Gioia-san!"

They both turned to discover an out of breath Tsuna, closely followed by an annoyed Gokudera and a grinning Yamamoto. Gioia looked at them, startled.

"We thought we could all go home together" Tsuna smiled sheepishly. "Well, if you're going in the same direction as us."

Gioia thanked Kusakabe with a wide smile and gladly followed the trio. Luckily for her, they were all heading in the same direction and she quietly observed them. Gokudera was either getting mad at Yamamoto or throwing cutting remarks at her. She easily ignored him but just couldn't get why Gokudera was shouting at Yamamoto so much. The baseball player had been friendly to her straightaway and seemed to always be cheerful and relaxed. Between the two of them stood Tsuna, who was remarkably failing at calming his friends down. He seemed pretty desperate but Gioia saw him sigh then smile. Tsuna seemed to truly appreciate them.

They finally arrived at Tsuna's house and said goodbye. As it turned out, Gokudera was living in the same building as Gioia and neither of them took the news so well. Gioia had apparently reached her limits and Tsuna could still hear them arguing as they walked away.

**Note:**

_And the trio is finally here! I hope I managed to portray them well! I actually find it easier to write about the Varia! xD I had to rewrite this chapter so many times and I'm still not 100% satisfied about it OTL__ If there's something bugging you concerning the characters, do tell me :)_

**_Thank you for all the new follows and reviews! :D _**_I hope you'll continue to enjoy my fic!_

_Have a nice day and see you next time! ^^_


	7. Routine

**Routine **

Gioia looked down at her hands covered in blood. Sensing a presence behind her, she turned to discover a row of kids pointing at her and chanting "Like brother, like sister! You're both murderers!" She instinctively covered her ears but screamed as the warm liquid ran down her neck. Horrified, she watched the kids slowly being distorted into dark monsters with gaping holes as mouths, still chanting the horrendous song. Panicked, Gioia tried to run away but her legs refused to move. From the corner of her eye, she could see the monsters getting closer to her and felt as if she was being sucked in. When she finally gave up, she turned to face her enemies and let out a desperate sob as the darkness enveloped her and a high pitched sound filled her mind.

Gioia woke up with a start and sent the ringing alarm clock crashing on the wall. She groaned and wiped away the cold sweat on her forehead. With great difficulty, she dragged herself to the bathroom. One look at the mirror made her sigh loudly. She had been bothered by nightmares the whole night and her eyes were now circled with heavy bags. "Murderers". The word still resonated in her head. Frustrated, she punched the wall. Her first day at Namimori middle school had gone pretty well so there wasn't any reason why the second should go wrong. And yet, there she was, haunted by nightmares.

Her cellphone rang and she went back to her room, surprised someone would call her this early. She recognized the country calling code on the screen and grinned as she picked up the call.

"VOIIII! What the fuck are you doing in Japan?!"

Gioia couldn't help laughing which made her brother even more upset.

"What the fuck are you laughing about?! You damn brat! Leaving without saying anything! Wait till I see you and kick your ass!"

"I'm happy to hear you too, Nii-chan" she chuckled.

"Tch. I seriously can't believe you left without saying goodbye… You went to see that idiot Dino but not _me_!"

"You refuse to let me visit you" retorted Gioia, losing patience. "_And_ you never pick up your phone. I figured you were too busy so I left you a message explaining everything!"

"I know" growled Squalo, his voice betraying his guilt. "I just… I don't know. Whatever. How is the old man doing?"

"I visit him every day and he's fine. He looks very tired but I'm sure he'll be okay."

"Good. And… what about y- THE FUCK, BEL! Stop that!"

Gioia shook her head with a smile as she heard loud crashing noises and her brother yelling at the top of his lungs. She really missed spending chaotic days at the Varia headquarters.

"That damn brat!" cursed Squalo. "I have to go, Gioia. I've got a lot of things to do."

"I know."

An awkward silence followed and Gioia regretted her brother wasn't with her. It wasn't easy to guess what he was thinking when he wasn't in front of her.

"Gioia, you take care of yourself, okay?" Squalo finally said. "Be careful with money. Don't wander in the street at night. At school, you better study well! Or you'll never become a cook! And if someone even _dares_ to bother you, you call me and I'll kick their sorry ass!"

"Aye, Nii-chan!" Gioia did her best not to laugh because she was well aware that was the kind of thing Squalo wasn't comfortable with. "I have to get ready for school. Thanks for calling, Nii-chan."

"I'll call you later then. See you, brat."

Gioia put down the phone, knowing he probably wouldn't call her again. But she didn't mind. That one call was all she needed to gather strength. Squalo was right. She had a dream job and she would do anything to achieve it. She had been given a new opportunity here and she was certainly going to grab it. People at Namimori middle school, Tsuna and the others, didn't need to know her past. For them, she would just be Gioia Gandor, a transfer student and friend of Dino's.

* * *

Like every morning, Kusakabe Tetsuya was jogging through town before going to school and always used the same route, seizing the occasion to check everything was in order in the school's neighbourhood.

Kusakabe was approaching a convenience store when he saw a visibly drunk man talking to a girl. Keeping his pace, he observed them, ready to intervene if the girl was in any danger. The man suddenly grasped the girl's arm and Kusakabe hurried over, cursing. However, before he could reach them, the girl had grabbed the man's arm, had swiftly twisted it and kicked him behind his knees to bring him down. The drunk had let out a surprised cry when she had reacted and was now moaning on the ground. Impressed, Kusakabe watched the girl arrange her clothes as if nothing had happened and he chuckled when he recognized her.

"You're definitely full of surprises" he called out.

Gioia turned to him, surprised, and greeted him with an unsure smile.

"I didn't think I would see someone from school that early" she said.

"I always jog before school. It's a good way to start the day!" Kusakabe glanced at Gioia's outfit. "Seems like I'm not the only to think like that."

"My grandfather basically told me I was getting fat so I had to do something" Gioia sighed.

"You seem pretty fit though. Those moves you did, where did you learn them?" Since their first meeting, Kusakabe had found the girl affable but something about her bothered him. There had been the incident in the hospital's elevator and now, the way she had disposed of the man. He was just curious about her.

"Oh… That… It's…" Gioia wriggled uncomfortably. "My family is into … self defense stuff. Martial arts, you know, things like that. So I learned some pretty useful tricks. Trained a bit with them. That's all."

"Interesting family" Kusakabe simply said, noting how reluctant she was to talk about her family.

"Interesting, that's the word" mused Gioia before checking her watch. "What do you say we finish our little jog together?"

Kusakabe hesitated a bit before deciding it wouldn't hurt to go with her.

* * *

Gioia had just left the classroom when both her arms were taken and she found herself a prisoner of two girls.

"We're taking you to celebrate your arrival!" announced Sasagawa Kyoko, a cheerful girl and friend of Tsuna's.

"And you don't have a choice" added Kurokawa Hana, Kyoko's closest friend.

The two girls had already chatted with Gioia the previous day, welcoming her to the class, but although they were really nice, Gioia didn't feel completely comfortable around them. She never really had female friends before and the familiar way Kyoko treated her was new and disconcerting to Gioia.

"Where are we going?" asked Gioia who had capitulated and was following the two girls in town.

"Fujiwara's Bakery! The sweets are delicious and the owners are really nice people! I'm sure you'll love it!"

Gioia's eyes sparkled when she heard 'food' and Kyoko didn't fail to notice.

"You like sweets?"

"I love them!" Gioia confessed. "I actually love cooking and baking!"

Gioia told them all about her passion and her dream job and couldn't help feeling proud as Kyoko and Hana were impressed by her skills. They both begged her to bake something for them and Gioia happily accepted, determined to show her gratitude. The three girls finally arrived at Fujiwara's Bakery and entered the shop, already debating about what kind of sweets they should buy. Gioia was finally feeling at ease, earnestly talking about sweets, and the nightmare that had woken her that morning had completely left her mind.

* * *

Gioia dropped her pen. Their math teacher had just given them back their test and she was staring at the big red ten written at the top of the paper. Back in Italy, she had difficulties in math but here, she was utterly lost. She knew she needed help but she could see Tsuna was looking as desperate as her and Yamamoto was just sleeping on his own paper. Distraught, she lay her head down on the desk. Someone put a comforting hand on her back and she stiffened at the contact, not yet used to anyone touching her. She looked up and discovered Kyoko.

"What's wrong, Gioia-chan?" asked the girl, concerned.

"My test…" mumbled Gioia.

"Oh" Kyoko simply said as she saw the grade. "Maybe you need someone to tutor you? I'd love to help you but I'm not the best student in math. You should ask Gokudera-kun! He's really smart and I'm sure he'll help you!"

Gioia caught Gokudera's eye and one look was enough to tell her he wouldn't waste his time helping her.

"Thank you, Kyoko-san, but I'm not sure he's going to help me…" Gioia sighed.

"What's wrong?" asked Tsuna who seemed to seek any excuse to forget about his own grade.

"Gioia-chan needs help in math and I think Gokudera-kun could help her!" explained Kyoko.

"It's true he is really good at math! Right, Gokudera-kun? Do you think you could help Gioia-chan?" Tsuna asked innocently.

Amused, Gioia observed the conflicting expressions on the silver haired boy. It was clear he didn't want to help her but that would be going against Tsuna and it was just impossible for him. Barely containing his annoyance, Gokudera agreed to help Gioia and a few hours later, at lunch break, they were both sitting at the library to study.

"You don't even know the basics!" Gokudera snapped as he tried to explain the mistakes she made in the test. "Did you never study math or what?!"

Gioia lowered her head under the boy's severe look. She had had difficulties with math right after they had been done with sums and subtractions. She really had tried to understand. The problem is that she had sought help with the wrong person. Back then, she had turned to Mammon and the Arcobaleno had somehow accepted to help her in exchange for a few errands. However, the first lesson had been disastrous. Mammon proved himself not to be a really patient teacher and that day, Gioia had discovered the power of illusions. Disheartened by her lack of common sense when it came to math, Mammon had snapped and unleashed his powers on the little girl, traumatizing her for life.

"I have a difficult relationship with math…" said Gioia with a shudder as she recalled giant waves of numbers trying to drown her. "I am way too pure to understand the language of Hell."

"What the hell are you talking about?" asked Gokudera, baffled.

"Never mind. Can you just explain this to me?"

Gokudera let a heavy sigh but ended up explaining in detail what Gioia hadn't understood. After their lesson, Gioia felt truly grateful to the boy and promised him she would do something to repay him.

* * *

One month had passed since Gioia had arrived in Japan and she had slowly got used to her routine. After spending a lot of time chatting with the owners of Fujiwara's Bakery, they had proposed her a part time job and Gioia had immediately accepted, eager to learn more about baking. School was also going pretty well. She was now feeling comfortable around Tsuna and the others although she still had some difficulties to think straight when Yamamoto was talking to her. She had also ended up jogging with Kusakabe and had grown closer to him. Everyone at school was terrified by the Disciplinary Committee but she really enjoyed spending time with Kusakabe although she preferred to avoid the violent President of the Committee. Her studies were going better since Gokudera was tutoring her. They would regularly meet at the library and although the boy kept snapping at her, he put up with her and efficiently helped her. In exchange for his help, Gioia had decided to cook for the boy. Living not far from each other, she had quickly noticed Gokudera would always buy instant noodles and she had forced him to accept her offer of making meals for him. He had proved himself to be the perfect guinea pig for Gioia's cooking and baking.

One day, as Gioia was taking out the bins from the bakery, she heard loud explosions and looked up at the sky to see smoke a few blocks away. She was going back inside the bakery when she heard a familiar roar. Surprised, she listened carefully but couldn't hear anything besides faint explosions. With a shrug, she thought that she had been imagined it.

Squalo couldn't possibly be in Namimori.

**Note:**

_Sorry for the late update! Almost gave up that fic, actually. And this chapter is pretty messy because I wanted to talk about several characters... I hope I managed to convey how important those characters were to Gioia! Anyway. I didn't want to spend more time on her everyday life so the Varia Arc will begin next chapter!_

_**Thank you very much for the follows and reviews!** I would definitely have given up if not for those!_

_Thank you for reading and have a nice day! :)_


	8. Family Resemblance

**Family resemblance**

Dino ran through Namimori, hoping he wouldn't arrive too late. When he finally reached the market where the explosions could be heard from, he found Tsuna and Basil facing a silver headed man. Dino silently cursed. He hadn't seen Squalo in years and he wasn't expecting him to have become even more menacing. However, Dino wasn't the same weak boy he used to be and he wasn't intimidated by Squalo anymore.

"You're just like always, Superbi Squalo" he said, in a cold voice. "Isn't it embarrassing being so rough on kids?"

Squalo hesitated for a moment as he recognized Dino.

"If you don't stop this distasteful game of yours, then I'll be your opponent" threatened Dino.

Once again, Dino saw Squalo hesitating but in a blink of an eye, the Varia officer had decided to grab Tsuna with a loud "VOIIII". Dino immediately reacted when Squalo touched his little brother but in a moment of confusion, another bomb exploded and Squalo disappeared with the rings. After making sure Tsuna was okay, Dino watched the direction where Squalo had run away. He didn't care about the rings, they were only fakes. No, what was upsetting him was seeing with his own eyes how Squalo, once more, had taken the wrong decision. Dino had tried to keep track of Squalo's doings for the last months and what he had discovered had confirmed his worst fears. But he hadn't had the heart to say anything to Gioia. However, seeing how things had turned out today, he knew he would soon have to face her and explain to her what her brother had been up to…

* * *

Gioia turned off the heat as the doorbell rang. She opened the door and barely hid her look of contempt when she discovered who was visiting her.

"Ciaossu!" greeted Reborn. "We need to talk. Can I come in?"

Gioia let him enter without saying anything and watched him take a seat at her table.

"I was about to cook something. You don't mind if I do while we talk?"

"I don't" answered the Arcobaleno.

Gioia nodded and set up to work. She could feel the little baby's stare at her back and felt really uncomfortable. As far as she could remember, Reborn had never trusted her, no matter how many times Dino had tried to convince him. He always saw her as Squalo's sister, the Varia's little protégée.

"How is your brother doing?" he suddenly asked.

"Fine, I suppose" she sighed.

"Have you talked to him recently?"

"No. I haven't really been in touch with him for the last year."

"You haven't talked to him for a year?" Reborn's voice was openly suspicious.

"Of course I talked to him!" she retorted, starting to get irritated. "But he only asked how I was doing and _that's all_! So stop bothering me with this!" She turned, pointing a kitchen knife at him. "What do you want to know, Reborn? Just say it already!"

Reborn smirked at her, his eyes hidden under his fedora's shadow, and Gioia used all her self control not to throw the knife at him. She knew the Arcobaleno would easily dodge so it wasn't worth it to risk getting her beautiful knife confiscated.

"You really don't know anything about your brother's plan?" Reborn insisted.

"You know perfectly well my brother never shared anything work-related with me. Back then, when that accident happened, he considered me a brat who didn't need to know anything about what was happening. And guess what? He _still_ thinks so!"

Gioia rarely lost his temper but it had always been difficult with Reborn. She just loathed how he looked at her, judging her. Gioia held his gaze, refusing to lose against him. Finally, the Arcobaleno left his seat and made for the door. But before closing it behind him, he turned one last time to her.

"I'll say it just this once" he said, in a slow and menacing tone. "When the time comes, you better make the right choice, Gioia Gandor."

Stunned, Gioia watched the door close and stayed still for a moment, letting the threat sink in. Fuming, she threw the kitchen knife; it buried itself into the door, right where Reborn had been. The right choice? When the time comes? What was that stupid midget talking about?! After racking her brains for an hour, pacing and punching her pillows, Gioia gave up and grabbed her things to go to the hospital. Maybe a visit to Tanaka would calm her down.

* * *

Dino shook his head when Tsuna ran away from the hospital after they had explained to him everything about the rings. Seeing Tsuna reminded Dino of his younger self when he continuously ran away from his responsibilities. It had taken Reborn some time to make him understand he had no choice but to become the Cavallone boss. With an amused smile, Dino headed to the exit and ran into somebody who loudly swore in Italian.

"That wasn't really polite, Gioia…"

The girl's eyes widened as she recognized him.

"What are you doing here?"

Dino frowned at her reaction. He appreciated the usual smile and hug Gioia would give him when she saw each other after a long time. But the girl was currently looking quite upset and Dino had a really bad feeling about it.

"Just… business" he answered, trying to sound as natural as possible.

"Business?" she repeated, squinting at him with doubt.

"Y-Yes, mafia business" he added, carefully avoiding her gaze. "I was in Japan so I thought I'd visit Tsuna. And he happened to be at the hospital so-"

"Tsuna's here?!" she interrupted. "Is he okay?"

"He is. He just ran into… a little trouble."

Gioia stared at Dino, making him feel more and more uncomfortable. He could see that she was observing every detail on his face to decipher what he was hiding from her. She had been good at it since she was a little kid and although it amused Dino most of the time, it was a big disadvantage when you were trying to lie to her.

"What is going on, Dino?" she finally asked, her eyes insistent.

"Nothing much" he quickly said.

"I'm not a fool" she snapped. "I know Tsuna is someone important in the mafia! Why would Reborn tutor him otherwise!? I just can't figure out which family he's supposed to be a part of!"

Dino cursed inwardly. What was he supposed to do now? What was he allowed to tell her?

"You're right. He is important" he confessed. "But I can't tell you details, Gioia. I'm sorry. You should stay out of this and don't do anything… wrong."

Gioia's expression flickered and Dino instantly knew he had said what he shouldn't have.

When they had first met, part of Dino had truly wondered if Gioia and Squalo were actual siblings. Except for the colour of their eyes, everything seemed to differentiate them. That was what he had been thinking until he had seen Gioia in a fit of rage. It had happened one day, after school, when Dino had decided to pick her up. He had found her in front of her middle school, circled by a bunch of kids laughing and shouting insults at her. Dino had watched her putting down her bag and thought she was going to burst in tears. But when she had stood up again, he had unconsciously backed away, struck by her venomous expression. Before Dino could put himself together and stop her, she had hit several of the kids, sending one of them to the infirmary. When he had grabbed her, he had locked his eyes in hers and for one moment, he had felt as if he was facing Squalo. The same reckless, violent hatred that he had seen so many times in his friend's eyes. After that accident, it had taken months to Tanaka, Cas and Dino to help Gioia master her temper.

And right now, she seemed on the verge of losing control.

"Don't you dare say that to me" she snarled. "I don't care about what that damn Arcobaleno thinks. But _you,_ Dino..."

The Cavallone boss felt a twinge in his heart. Even though she sounded furious, Dino could hear in her voice she was profoundly hurt. No matter how many times Dino had told Reborn that Gioia had nothing to do with any of Squalo's plans, the Arcobaleno had never trusted her. So it was highly possible that Reborn had directly threatened her in the view of what had happened that day. At a loss of words, Dino decided to simply apologize.

"I didn't mean to hurt you, Gioia" he whispered, lowering his head. "Please forgive me."

"You didn't mean it?" she shouted. "Then why did you say it? Why are you _lying_ to me! I hate you, Din-"

Gioia gasped and Dino saw her face turn pale as she was staring at something behind him. He quickly turned and discovered the old butler Tanaka, a look of utter disappointment on his wrinkled face.

"Gioia" said Tanaka, cold and severe. "You apologize this instant."

Gioia hesitated for half a second before looking down, ashamed.

"I'm sorry" she muttered, fighting against tears.

"Who are you talking to?" the old man scolded.

"I-I'm sorry, Dino" she repeated, any trace of anger gone.

"Now, you leave this hospital, girl, and I don't want to see you until I call you. Understood?"

Gioia nodded and immediately obeyed. Dino, who had also shrunk under Tanaka's intimidating presence, watched her disappear in the crowd, feeling as distressed as her.

"That temper really is something" Tanaka let out a heavy sigh.

"You didn't have to be that hard on her" Dino mumbled.

"I had to, Dino. And you know it" he smiled at the young boss, suddenly looking just like an old tired man. "Now, I'd like you to explain to me why my child was so upset."

**Note:**

_Yep, already an update with a short chapter! It helps not to have any exams left! If everything goes according to plan, the Varia should arrive next chapter! :D I just wanted to deal with Dino before that and give a little insight into Gioia's character :) _

_**Thank you very much for the reviews! And welcome to the new readers! ^^**_

**a simply fan**_: hahahaha I've been asked this so many times but I still haven't decided whom I'm going to pair Gioia with OTL I'm actually hesitating between a couple of characters but I don't want to say anything yet because I change my mind REALLY OFTEN so yeah ^^ Thanks for your constant support ;A;_

_QUESTION: So a simple fan's review made me curious and I wanted to know what you, readers, think: **whom would you like to see Gioia be paired with?** :) I'm just curious about what you feel ^^_

_Anyway, sorry for the blabber! Thank you for reading and have a nice day! :D_


	9. A Bad Feeling

**A Bad Feeling**

Gioia spent the next two days buried under her kotatsu, barely eating and watching the dumbest shows on TV. Neither Tanaka nor Dino had called her yet. In fact, she had only received two texts from Kusakabe, asking why she didn't show up for their usual morning jog and one from Kyoko, checking on her. A text from the Disciplinary Committee on the third morning finally got Gioia out of her lethargy and she dragged her feet back to school.

When she arrived in her classroom, she noticed with a twinge of disappointment that Tsuna, Yamamoto and Gokudera weren't there. She missed them and although she wouldn't admit it, after all the time she had spent with them, and particularly with Gokudera, she had been expecting them to worry about her absence. But she hadn't heard from any of them. Upset, she sat at her desk and jumped when someone gently touched her shoulder.

"You didn't reply to my text" said Kyoko. "Are you okay?"

Gioia observed her classmate and saw on Kyoko's face that she truly was worried about her. This made her feel slightly better and she smiled at her friend. After apologizing and assuring that she was alright, she watched Kyoko go back to her desk and decided she should go to Kusakabe too. She did her best to listen to her teachers and hurried to the Disciplinary Committee office at lunch break. She found Kusakabe as he was coming out of the room and sheepishly smiled at him when he recognized her and looked down at her with a severe expression.

"You skipped two days."

"Sorry" she said. "I wasn't feeling well. And I really would have been awful company for a jog."

"I've got so used to seeing you buy snacks after jogging that I automatically went to the convenience store before I remembered you weren't with me" he chuckled, clearly not mad at her. "Are you feeling better? You didn't answer my texts."

"Sorry" she bowed. "I'm fine now! And I'll make it up for you! Let me cook a bento for you like I did last time!"

"Then do one for me too, herbivore."

A shudder ran through her spine as Hibari approached them, his clothes all dirty and a few bruises on his face. Gioia flinched as she noticed he was also looking really pissed.

"A bento?" she asked as he stopped right in front of her.

"I want you to bring lunch for the following days" he glared at her, not even bothering to make it sound like a request. "You'll give it to Kusakabe every morning."

"Why me?" she whined.

Gioia had met the Prefect only a few times since she had arrived, following everyone's advice to stay away from him. Whenever she was facing him, Hibari would always call her "herbivore" and would stare at her as if ready to attack her and destroy her. She was used to that kind of behaviour with Bel on his bad days so she knew the best way to deal with it was to find something to distract his attention and swiftly escape. She was curious about why Hibari would ask her for his lunch but seeing how unhappy the prefect looked, she had to quickly find a lame excuse and disappear before he could vent his anger on her. However, to Gioia's surprise, Kusakabe smiled awkwardly at her, looking guilty.

"When you made that bento last time" he explained "I found it really good so I thought I'd give some to the President."

"And you liked it?" Gioia immediately asked, all fear for the prefect forgotten. As an apprentice cook, she was always eager to have feedback.

The boy, startled by her sudden change of behaviour, backed away.

"It was… _fine_" he blurted out.

"Then, I'll try making something better!" Gioia couldn't help grinning. "You can count me!"

And without waiting for an answer, she left the two boys and went back to class. Hibari's order was all she needed to keep her mind off her current worries. All she had to do was to find the right dishes, try some new recipes and have fun.

* * *

Gioia bid Yamamoto's father goodbye and left the sushi bar. Yamamoto Tsuyoshi was as warm and friendly as his son and she enjoyed spending some time with him, just talking about food and learning more about sushi making. Since she hadn't heard anything from Yamamoto and the others, she had turned to him and had learned Yamamoto was undergoing some sort of training. She figured Tsuna and Gokudera were probably training too and it confirmed something really important was going on in the mafia world. She still didn't know what though.

Gioia was lost in her thoughts so it took her some time to notice an odd presence around her. Discreetly checking her surroundings, she saw a few people going about their business, nothing out of the ordinary. She kept going and arrived to her flat, still feeling something was weird. As she took out her keys, a faint sound alerted her and she instinctively ducked and grabbed the knife she was always hiding on her. She heard a "cling" when something hit the door and she quickly got in a defensive position, her knife in front of her, ready to strike. However, there was no one behind her and her eyes darted sideways, confused. She was about to relax when she felt the cold touch of a knife on her neck and someone's breath on her skin.

"Ushishishi, you still have good reflexes but you'd be dead by now, peasant."

Gioia remained still, not even turning her head to look at Bel. You just never knew if the Prince was in the mood to kill you.

"I lack practice" she said in a steady voice, adopting her usual strategy to wheedle Bel. "Couldn't find an opponent as good as you."

"Of course, you couldn't" he scoffed and the knife disappeared from his hand, allowing Gioia to breathe again. Bel wrapped one arm around Gioia's shoulders and put all his weight on her. "I haven't seen you in a long time, peasant! Did you get smaller?!"

"No" she scowled. "What are you doing here, Bel?"

"Well, I was going to eat my favourite sushi when I saw _you_, leaving that very restaurant! I was delighted to see you so I followed you here to surprise you!"

"With a knife on my throat…"

"I figured it'd be less funny if I had just called you when I saw you leaving the restaurant."

"Of course you did" she sighed. "But that doesn't tell me why you're here, in Japan. Are you here by yourself? Did you come all this way just to eat sushi?"

"Nope, not this time" he grinned. "We have business here."

"_We_?" Gioia repeated, her interest picked. "Nii-chan's here?"

"Oh yes, the captain's here" Bel sighed.

Suddenly looking bored, the prince let go of her, grabbed her keys and entered the flat without invitation. Knowing better than to reprimand him, Gioia followed and kept a close eye on him, hoping he wouldn't feel like destroying everything.

"You must feed me, peasant!" he claimed, slumping on the couch. "Because of you, I didn't get to eat my favourite sushi!"

"I can cook something for you. But do you know why Nii-chan didn't tell me he was here?"

Cooking for Hibari those last days had brightened her mood but hearing Squalo was here and hadn't even come to greet her deeply saddened Gioia. Maybe she hadn't imagined her brother's voice a few days ago. Maybe he had been in Namimori for days and had totally ignored her.

"We didn't even know you were here" said Bel, reassuring her. "Can you make sushi?"

"I can try" Gioia quickly said. It was hard to get Bel's attention when his mind was set on something. "But it takes time. Don't you want to eat something simpler?"

"I sure am hungry" Bel nodded. "Make something quickly, peasant."

Gioia set to work right away, not particularly eager to see Bel getting impatient.

"Bel, when you go back to your hotel" she said as she was mincing some meat "can I go with you?"

"No" answered the prince. "You see, peasant, I was thinking I'd like to stay here so that you can cook for me while I'm in Japan."

Gioia froze and looked at Bel to see if he was joking. As a kid, she had spent some time under the same roof as Bel's and she perfectly knew the reason she was still alive was that her brother had been here to intervene whenever Bel got a bit too murderous.

"Y-you can't stay here, Bel" she stammered, trying not to upset him.

The teenager was about to retort something when his phone rang and he lazily took the call.

"What do you want, baby peasant?"

Mammon? Gioia couldn't help smiling. Were all the Varia officers here? She hadn't seen them in so long! She terribly missed them and with Tsuna and the others busy, she'd love some company.

"I don't want to go back at that lowly hotel. I'm a Prince. I can stay wherever I want and I-"

Surprised, Gioia saw Bel's face turn a bit pale and wondered what threat had made the prince shut up.

"Fine" he pouted. "I'm on my way."

He hung up and stared at the phone for a few seconds before turning to Gioia with a grin.

"Let's go! It's boring with only those old peasants there!"

And without waiting for an answer, he grabbed her arm and dragged her out of the flat.

* * *

Bel and Gioia arrived at a luxurious hotel and she thought you really had to be a Prince to find the hotel lowly. Bel led her in and they passed through several suites before getting to a common room only occupied by Squalo who was practicing some sword moves. Ecstatic, Gioia ran to her brother, jumped on him and kissed his cheek, completely ignoring his protests.

"I already told you to stop doing that shit!" he roared.

Gioia just laughed, keeping her arms locked around her brother.

"You should be happy, peasant" said Bel. "I didn't get such treatment, although I'm a prince..."

"Last time I tried to kiss you" said Gioia, annoyed "you tried to cut my cheeks in a joker smile..."

"Ushishishi I still think it would suit you. That scar under your eye wouldn't feel so lonely!"

Both Squalo and Gioia glared at the prince who never showed any regret about marking Gioia's face for the rest of her life.

"Anyway" Gioia finally let go of Squalo "I haven't seen you in more than a year, Nii-chan, so you could be nicer..."

"Tch, you're such a girl" Squalo growled. "Besides, what the hell are you doing here?"

"I _live _here! I told you I was living in Namimori!"

Squalo's expression made it clear he hadn't expected to find her here. As usual, he had taken in only parts of the information she had given him. Gioia didn't mind much but she saw on his face that Squalo wished she was anywhere but in Namimori. Quickly making connections with what had happened recently, Gioia understood why Dino had lied to her for the first time since they knew each other. Squalo was planning something bad. She didn't know how but it also involved Tsuna and the others. She had a bad feeling about this.

"What are you up to, Nii-chan?" she frowned at her brother.

Squalo was taken aback by her serious tone and he quickly avoided her eyes, unwilling to let her read right through him.

"That's none of your business" he snapped. "Stay out of it."

Gioia's happiness to see her brother had entirely faded away. Now that she was facing him, she recognized this behaviour. She had seen Squalo acting like this when she was a kid. Anxiety with a tint of anger was gnawing at her and she felt a sudden surge to leave the room.

"Fine" she whispered.

Without a glance at either of them, Gioia turned away and left. As she passed through the numerous rooms, she could feel rage getting the better of her and she clenched her fists, trying to calm down. She banged open the last suite's door and froze, her mouth slightly open in shock.

There, standing in the middle of the room with a bottle of tequila, was someone she thought she'd never see again. Xanxus turned to see the intruder and glared down at her.

**Note:**

_THE VARIA IS FINALLY BACK. You can't even imagine how much I was looking forward to write about them again! :D I hope you enjoyed seeing them as well!_

_**Thank you for the reviews and welcome to the new readers!** And thank you to those of you who answered my question! It was really interesting to get your opinions! ^^_

_I hope you're all doing well! Thank you for reading and see you next chapter!_


	10. We need to talk

**We need to talk**

Xanxus was looking for Squalo to vent his anger on when the door slammed open and a girl entered. He glared down at her. "Who the fuck is so impatient they called a girl when they had just arrived?!" was the first thing that occurred to Xanxus. He then noticed that she wasn't Asian and that she seemed to know who he was because she was staring as if she had just seen a ghost. For a few seconds, she stood there, frozen, allowing Xanxus to observe her. She was way too young to have spent a night with him and any woman he had threatened wouldn't dare go near him again. That pretty much ruled out every single female who might know him. Finally coming to her senses, she took a few tentative steps toward him, her wide grey eyes still stuck on him. Her gaze made Xanxus feel uneasy and it hit him.

"Mini-scum?" he muttered, startled.

Gioia's lips broke into a thin smile as she heard the old nickname. Eight years had passed since they had last seen each other and she was now… what? Around thirteen? No wonder he hadn't recognized her at first sight! He watched her getting closer as he remembered how she used to be a tiny little brat who had somehow grown on him. Back then, he really enjoyed having her around to either team up with her to mess up with Squalo or to use her as another victim to release his temper on. Xanxus wouldn't admit it but he did have wondered about her whereabouts a couple of times since his return. However, he had been busy with his new plan and just didn't want to ask his officers and show them he was curious about some brat.

Gioia was finally standing before him and she slightly tilted her head as she examined Xanxus' face. He could tell she was mesmerized by the scars. Everyone always stared at his scars when they saw him. That damn brat was no exception. He was about to tell her to stop when she lifted a hand toward his face and he jerked away, avoiding the contact.

"Don't fucking touch me" he snarled.

Gioia's hand froze but she didn't blink, supporting his menacing look.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…" she whispered, her face now a neutral mask. "What happened to you, Boss?"

"Nothing" he growled. "Stop staring, brat."

"Sorry" she quickly apologized.

"You're _still_ staring, trash…"

Gioia didn't answer, her hand getting near his face once again. This time, Xanxus allowed her to touch him and remained still as her fingers traced the hideous scars. He saw her features gradually writhing in pain as if _she_ was the one whose face had been damaged. That's when Xanxus noticed the deep scar on her cheek. Taken aback by her sudden appearance, he hadn't even noticed the mark. Maybe she knew a little about having a damaged face... Xanxus' wandering thoughts stopped when she started poking at one of his scar, apparently curious to test the skin. His face tensed and she immediately removed her hand.

"Sorry" she repeated with a sheepish smile and opted for changing topics. "It's really good to see you, Boss! I thought I'd never see you again…"

"Me too" he grumbled.

"So… missed me?" she grinned.

For a split second, Xanxus was tempted to be honest and say "yes" to make her happy.

"I actually thought I had finally got rid of you" he smirked.

"Pff I can tell you're lying!" she pouted before smiling again. "And I think you just need a hug from your favourite human being!" she suddenly claimed before wrapping her arms around him.

Xanxus had not expected that and found himself trapped in her embrace, wondering how the hell he had come to think for even a second that he had missed that annoying girl.

* * *

Squalo watched his sister leave the room, unsure about what he should say. Why the hell was he so unlucky? First, he had brought back fake Vongola rings which had made Xanxus even more pissed than he already was. And now they had come at the other end of the world to take back what should be theirs, it turned out Gioia was here. Squalo had intended to hide everything from her. This was Varia's business so she didn't have to be involved. But of all places, she had decided to live _here_. Squalo was tempted to keep on lying but he suddenly remembered something. Something he had dismissed after suffering Xanxus' wrath about the fake rings. There was another person he had not expected to find here.

What if Gioia learned the truth from _Dino_? What would she do?

Squalo was sure that if he told her, she wouldn't approve the Varia's plan. She probably wouldn't say anything but would still make it clear she didn't like it. But what would she do if Squalo kept lying to her and Dino was the one telling her what was happening? Squalo's face turned pale as he realized that there was a chance she'd choose Dino over him...

Squalo gritted his teeth as he felt a pang of jealousy toward Dino. No way he would let him get Gioia. Squalo was aware it was selfish of him, after all those years of neglecting her, but she was his and no one else's. Fuming, Squalo hurried after her sister, hoping she hadn't left the hotel yet.

The Varia captain ran through the series of huge rooms before he entered the last suite and discovered Xanxus who seemed to be on the verge of ripping Gioia into pieces. The girl had somehow managed to get the Varia boss in a tight hug and seemed completely oblivious of the murder intent aimed at her. Squalo's anger quickly faded away. Xanxus was even more instable since his return and Gioia could be in real danger.

"Gioia, listen to me" Squalo said, keeping an eye on Xanxus' movements. "Let go of him. Slowly. Don't make sudden moves."

"Don't talk as if I'm some kind of animal, trash" Xanxus snapped.

Reaching his limit, Xanxus grabbed Gioia's arms, forced her to release him and tossed the girl toward her brother. Squalo carefully caught Gioia, doing his best not to look too surprised at Xanxus' patience, and glared down at her.

"Voiii, are you trying to get yourself killed?!"

Ignoring him, she pushed Squalo away and pointed an accusing finger at him.

"Why didn't you tell me Boss was back?!"

"I… don't know" Squalo mumbled.

"You don't know?!" she repeated, upset. "But you knew I've also been waiting for him!"

"I know" he said. "Things got hectic when Xanxus returned and I didn't have any time to have a proper conversation with you so yeah, sorry."

Squalo saw Gioia's expression soften for some reason and he sighed from relief. Sometimes he was grateful for her mood swings.

"This is all very touching" growled Xanxus "but what the hell are you doing here, mini-scum?"

"I live here."

"What?"

"Long story!" she grinned. "Let me tell you about everything you missed those last years. See, I didn't really like school back there, in Italy. And it so happens that Tanaka-jiisan fell ill and he…"

"Trash" Xanxus interrupted. "For a moment, I thought you hadn't changed a bit. But I was wrong. You're even worse than I remember…"

"She is" agreed Squalo. "Just wait till she starts speaking about food… Sounds like the love of her life…"

"Food, huh? That explains why she gained weight."

Gioia pouted as the two men made fun of her. They both had a truly satisfied smirk on their faces and she couldn't help half smiling. Seeing her brother and Xanxus back together felt right.

Their teasing was stopped by a phone ringing and Squalo intently listened to the other person before hanging up and turning to Xanxus.

"Levi and Mammon found them" he simply said.

A spark lit up Xanxus' eyes as he heard his captain. He didn't answer and just left the room, without a second glance at Squalo or Gioia.

"You stay here" Squalo ordered his sister.

"What?! How long am I supposed to wait for you? I have homework to do!"

Squalo took her by the shoulders and leaned to stare right into her eyes.

"Please wait here. We need to talk."

She scanned his eyes before nodding. Squalo patted her head then followed his boss.

"Just find something to do" he said before leaving the room. "I don't know, order some food maybe?"

He heard Gioia gasp and wondered if it was a good idea to give her the green light to order food from the luxurious hotel…

* * *

The Varia officers burst into the suite, talking loudly, every one of them impatient to teach their young opponents a lesson. Squalo was particularly eager to fight to make them pay for the fake rings. He was listing the best ways to make the Vongola brat suffer when he spotted Gioia sitting at the table, surrounded by empty plates and taking notes on a paper.

"Oh, you're back!" she looked up with a smile.

They all stared at her, gaping at the number of plates on the table.

"Voiiii! Don't tell me you ordered all of this!" Squalo roared. "Are you a monster? How could you eat all this food!?"

"Mu, it's going to cost a fortune" Mammon intervened, sounding genuinely hurt.

Gioia pretended she hadn't heard any of them and ran to hug Lussuria whom she hadn't seen earlier. She managed to hug Mammon before he could fly away and returned to Levi the same look of contempt he was giving her. Xanxus ignored all of them and left the room while Squalo watched silently. He finally took a deep breath, deciding it wouldn't help thinking too much about it.

"Gioia, we need to talk."

The girl let go of Mammon and followed her brother into his personal room. He sat on the bed and motioned her to do the same. For a moment, he stared at his feet, unsure about how he should start. Gioia remained silent.

"Say, if you had to choose between Dino and me, who would you pick?"

The words had escaped from Squalo and he internally cursed himself for it. It was the worst possible way of starting the conversation. Gioia who had been startled by the sudden question was now reflecting on it. Squalo observed her, waiting for her answer but wishing at the same time that she wouldn't say anything.

"I don't know" she finally uttered.

Squalo's heart sank. He could see she was being totally honest with him. He was reassured she hadn't answered "Dino" but he believed that a few years ago, she would have said "Nii-chan" without a second thought. Squalo gritted his teeth but didn't show any disappointment. He had deserved such an answer.

"To keep it short" he said, not commenting on her answer "Xanxus is the true Vongola's heir and I want to make it sure he gets what he deserves."

Gioia nodded.

"For that" Squalo continued "we need the Vongola rings to prove that we are the legitimate next generation. However, some dumbass people in the family disagree and support another candidate. So we have to fight to get those damn rings. That's why we're here. We'll each have a duel against one of the other candidate's family."

Squalo frowned. When he had mentioned the other candidate, Gioia's eyes had widened as if she had finally understood something. Then, he had spoken about the duels and she had frozen. It lasted only for a second before she composed herself again but Squalo had noticed it anyway. Why was she reacting like that?

"Anyway, that's it. You now know the situation and you don't have to worry about us this time. We're going to fight against useless brats. It's going to be a piece of cake, maybe even boring!" he laughed.

Gioia didn't laugh, now looking worried.

"Voii" Squalo scowled. "I told you not to worry!"

"Sorry" she muttered. "I just have a bad feeling about it, that's all…"

"It's going to be fine" Squalo assured her.

"If you say so…" she sighed before getting up. "I think I'll go home for now. I have to wake up early for school tomorrow."

Squalo nodded and watched her leave. Something was still bothering him. The fact Gioia hadn't said anything about their plan just felt… odd. Squalo tried to convince himself he was probably worried for nothing but he ended up going back to the main suite to find Bel.

"Where is the crowned brat?" Squalo asked, finding only Mammon sitting at the table with a long bill and a calculator and Xanxus slouched in an armchair.

"Out" the Arcobaleno said. "Why?"

"I need him to keep an eye on Gioia."

"You want Bel to tail your sister?" Mammon asked, surprised enough to turn away from the bill.

"Something's bothering me… I just want to be sure it's nothing" Squalo growled.

"Consider it done. When your sister came to say goodbye, Lussuria and Bel jumped on her and dragged her to a karaoke, I think."

"Those bastards! Don't they have nothing better to do?!"

"Those idiots are fast" commented Xanxus. "Since she had eaten so much, I wanted to walk her to the park so that she could run around a bit but they got her first…"

"VOIII! She's not your pet!" Squalo roared and stormed out of the room.

**Note:**

_Another quick update! _**_Thanks for reading and welcome to the new readers!_**

_Have a nice day and see you next chatper ^^_


	11. A Glass of Tequila

**A Glass of Tequila**

Bel grabbed Gioia's arm and drew her closer to whisper in her ear.

"You're aware that going to the karaoke with that peasant is a bad idea, right?"

"I know" Gioia flinched at the memory of the last time Lussuria had dragged the Varia to a karaoke.

Lussuria had ended up drinking a lot and had started taking off his clothes, forcing Squalo to jump on Gioia, hide her eyes and storm out of the room, yelling about "perverts". The whole scene had been quite amusing but neither Bel nor Gioia wanted to experience that once again. Not to mention Lussuria's singing was an offense to human ears.

"I don't want to go. Do something about it!" ordered Bel before pushing the girl toward Lussuria.

The colourful man who had been talking nonstop about all the fun they were going to have looked at Gioia with surprise.

"What is it, dear?"

"I don't want to go, Lussu-nee" she stuttered. "Why don't we cancel for tonight and meet this weekend instead? Spend two whole days together?"

Gioia offered her most charming smile but Lussuria just pouted.

"You're really no fun…"

"Well, I think there are other places than karaoke where you can get more fun."

Lussuria paused to think then grabbed Gioia's shoulders, his eyes sparkling.

"You're right, darling!" he shrieked. "We should try a _host club_!"

"What is it?" asked Bel, curious, before grinning. "Is it a place where you can freely take people hostage and torture them?"

Gioia stared at both of them, feeling desperate. What Squalo had told her earlier had been devastating. She had finally managed to make the connections and get the truth about what was going on so she needed some time alone to reflect on it.

"No, it's not, Bel" Gioia answered calmly. "And no, I'm not going, Lussu-nee. I can't. I have school tomorrow so I have to go home now."

She started turning away but Bel immediately grasped her arm.

"You stay here, peasant!"

"Let go, Bel" Gioia gritted her teeth.

"I want to have some fun tonight so you find some place where we can go!"

"I said LET GO!"

Losing patience, Gioia slipped her arm free and pushed away the prince. Her conflicting feelings she felt since the talk with Squalo were torturing her and entertaining Bel was the last thing she wanted to do. Bel was startled by her reaction at first but a knife quickly appeared in his hand.

"Do not use that tone with me" he threatened. "I'm a prince so you owe me some respect."

"I don't owe you anything!" retorted Gioia, her eyes gleaming with rising anger.

"Apologize immediately, peasant, and I might consider forgiving you" Bel snarled.

"Do you honestly think I'd apologize to you?!" Gioia scoffed.

Bel didn't answer but stiffened. Gioia noticed the change in his behaviour and knew he would leap into attack any moment. However, Lussuria grabbed Bel's arm and with a painful torsion, made him drop his weapon.

"That's enough, Bel" scolded Lussuria. "We haven't seen each other for so long so let's not fight, okay?"

Bel remained silent for a moment then nodded. Lussuria let go of his arm and smiled warmly at the two teenagers.

"Gioia is clearly not feeling well so we'll take her home and let her rest."

"I won't accompany this good-for-nothing peasant" snapped Bel. "I'm going back to the hotel."

And he left them without a second glance. Lussuria sighed then turned to Gioia with a cheerful smile.

"Let's go, darling! You lead the way!"

Gioia nodded then headed home. Lussuria followed her and gently took Gioia's hand on the way but said nothing. Gioia was grateful for Lussuria's silence and his hand felt somehow reassuring. They finally arrived at her flat and Gioia thanked him and said goodnight. Lussuria squeezed her hand and gently stroked her cheek.

"I can see you're hurting" he said, his voice tinged with concern. "I guess a lot happened tonight so just try to get some sleep. You'll feel better tomorrow."

"Thank you, Lussu-nee" mumbled Gioia.

"Goodnight, my dear."

He squeezed her hand one last time then left her. Gioia watched him disappear at the corner of the street then entered her flat. With a heavy sigh, she leaned on the door and hid her face in her hands.

Lussuria's behaviour was exactly the reason why she felt so conflicted. She was aware the Varia officers were violent assassins, despised and feared in the Mafia. Only a child, she had witnessed Xanxus killing people cold-blooded so many times she had become numb to it. She had always known that if they felt like it, they could kill her in the blink of an eye. Still, they had always cared about her in their own way. Lussuria had just proved that. She knew despite his carefree behaviour, Lussuria still was a murderer with a shady taste for corpses. Yet she also knew his concern was genuine. So how was she supposed to choose between the Varia and Tsuna and the others?

Her feelings were an utter mess. She felt like her brain was being torn apart, trying to figure out a way to get out of this terrible situation. Overwhelmed by her feelings, panic began to take control of her. Her breathing was ragged and chills shook her whole body. Multiple voices overlapping each other rang in her head. She wanted to cry but sobs got stuck in her throat. In a last attempt, Gioia wrapped her arms around her and held herself tightly, her nails digging in her skin. With intense efforts, she pushed away the voices and forced herself to take deep breaths. After what felt like hours, she managed to drag herself to her kotatsu and finally collapsed, unconscious.

* * *

When Gioia woke up the next day, her memories were blurred. A violent headache made her wince when she got up and she quickly took a medicine. After texting Kusakabe to tell him she wouldn't jog that morning, she got ready and left for school. She was walking in the street when she heard someone calling her. She turned and saw Tsuna, Gokudera and Yamamoto. Events from the previous day hit her like a bullet. For a split second, she was ready to run away as far from them as possible. But she just stood frozen, unable to move. As they came nearer, Gioia felt the choking sensation coming again and it took all her will to stay calm, put up a smile and greet the boys. She was expecting to see them scared but except for Tsuna, the other two looked perfectly fine. They didn't say anything about the duels and Gioia didn't ask about their whereabouts during the last days. She just listened to them in silence, still feeling torn apart between her new friends and the Varia. She was too distracted to listen during classes and the day passed at incredible speed. She eventually found herself sitting alone and watching the baseball team practice.

"Are you okay?"

Gioia started. She had been totally lost in her thoughts and hadn't noticed Yamamoto sitting next to her.

"I'm fine" she quickly answered.

"Are you sure? You don't look fine to me."

The boy was looking at her with a kind smile and Gioia felt her heart melt. Several times that day, she had thought about telling everything to her friends and convincing them not to fight the Varia. But she had overheard their conversation and they sounded pretty determined to fight. Gioia knew she could say nothing that would stop them. Was she supposed to watch her friends being destroyed and do nothing about it?

"You're staring at me" Yamamoto chuckled.

Gioia blushed and quickly looked down at her feet, embarrassed.

"My dad told me you came at the restaurant looking for me. Were you worried?"

"I wasn't exactly looking for _you_" mumbled Gioia. "I was just wondering where you guys were…"

Yamamoto observed her for a second before chuckling.

"You should have come to the dojo then. Dad told you I was training there, right?"

Gioia nodded. But she hadn't had the guts to go to the dojo and Bel had found her anyway.

"Why were you training?" Gioia asked, curious about what Yamamoto would answer. "Is there something going on?"

The boy's smile froze and Gioia noticed his body tensed. He finally let out a sigh and gazed at the baseball field.

"We have some… duels coming up. I already know who my opponent is and I really want to win. He's a highly skilled swordsman when I'm just a novice but I believe I have a chance."

"No, you don't" thought Gioia.

He smiled confidently at her and she did her best not to burst into tears. Of all people, Yamamoto's opponent was Squalo. Could it have been worse? The boy noticed her panic and he gave her a comforting smile.

"You know, I'm here because baseball is what calms me down. It makes me feel at peace so that I can be ready for whatever is coming. You should find what calms you down and you'll feel better."

He patted her head and with a last smile, left her alone. Gioia watched him walk away, feeling even worse than ever.

* * *

"Are you coming?"

Xanxus glared at his captain, making the answer obvious. Squalo shrugged and left the room without comment. Xanxus wasn't particularly interested in those trashes' duels and he didn't feel like going out anyway. He had just made himself comfortable in an armchair when the door opened. Out of reflex, Xanxus turned and threw his glass at the intruder. Gioia had clearly not been expecting the attack so she didn't dodge the glass and it crashed on the arm she had instinctively put in front of her face. Xanxus smirked as she came up to him, annoyed.

"A simple 'hello' would have been enough…" she remarked.

"Boring" commented Xanxus. "Grab me another glass, mini scum."

Gioia mumbled something inaudible but brought him a glass anyway. She then sat in front of him and Xanxus noticed the dark shadows under her eyes.

"You look like shit."

"Yeah, thanks" she sighed.

Xanxus scrutinized her for a moment. Gioia was staring at some invisible point on the wall and she had her hands clutching the chair, apparently trying to repress them from shaking. The girl looked like she was about to burst into tears and handling a sobbing teenager wasn't what Xanxus had in mind for the night. He poured a glass of tequila and handed it out to her.

"What?" she asked, confused.

"Take it."

"What? No!"

"Take it, brat."

Gioia stared at him, dumbfounded.

"I won't hold the damn glass forever. Take it _now_!" he snarled.

The girl quickly obeyed and took the glass.

"You really look like you need a drink" said Xanxus, grabbing another glass and pouring some tequila for him. "Drink, you'll feel better."

Gioia sniffed the drink and made a face.

"That smells disgusting… and I'm underage."

"Who gives a fuck?" retorted Xanxus, emptying his glass in one gulp. "Your brother isn't here and I won't tell him so go ahead."

Gioia looked hesitantly at her glass. Xanxus sighed impatiently.

"Your face looks terrible, brat. Just let go and drink!"

With a concerned look, Gioia finally brought the glass to her lips and took a tentative sip. Once again, she made a face and Xanxus half smiled.

"It'll taste better after a few sips" he assured her.

He watched her empty her glass little by little until she finished and asked for another one. Xanxus smiled. Her cheeks were now slightly pink and she looked better than when she had arrived. At least, she didn't look like she was about to cry anymore.

"Now, brat, I'm bored. So why don't you tell me what you've been up to those last years?"

Gioia took a gulp of tequila then grinned at him.

**Note:**

_Thank you once again for the encouraging reviews! And welcome to new readers!_

_Thanks for reading and have a nice day :)_


	12. Promise

**Promise**

After he left Lussuria at the hospital, Squalo headed back to the hotel. The events of the night were truly upsetting him. First, Lussuria had been a disappointment. Squalo had never considered the man to be as powerful as he was but being defeated by a mere kid? If it were Squalo, he would have preferred to die rather than show his shameful face again. In addition to that, the next battle would be the lightning one. Squalo craved for his battle to get revenge for the fake rings. And he couldn't wait to give the kid a lesson. Although he had defeated him in a few seconds the last time they had met, Squalo had found in the kid's eyes a new determination, a spark of hope. _The kid believed he had a chance against him_. How foolish! Squalo chuckled. The victory would only be more enjoyable for him! He couldn't wait to see the look on the kid's face when he'd realize he had never stood a chance against the Varia's captain.

Squalo finally arrived to the hotel and found the first suite empty. The other officers had immediately come back after the battle and Squalo guessed they had already retired into their private rooms. Not particularly willing to see Xanxus after Lussuria's failure, Squalo decided to call it an early night too. However, he had to go through the common room to access his private one and Squalo stumbled on something, loudly swearing. He looked down and found a pair of abandoned shoes. Frowning, Squalo had the impression he had seen those shoes before. With a shrug, he kicked them away.

"I don't think she'll appreciate you kicking away her stuff" came a sleepy voice from the couch.

Squalo stiffened as he saw Xanxus sitting up and stretching his arms with a yawn.

"She?" asked the captain.

"Your sister."

"She was here? And she left without her shoes?!"

"She hasn't left" replied his boss tersely.

"Where…?" Squalo's eyes widened, looking around the room thinking he had somehow missed his sister.

"In your room."

Squalo hurried to his room and gasped when he saw Gioia in his bed. For a moment, he had thought Xanxus was playing him again but the girl really was lying in the bed, currently mumbling. Squalo approached and leaned over his sister. Gioia seemed fast asleep, a vague smile lingering on her face. Squalo's nose twitched. Suspicious, he got even closer to the girl, pushed away a lock of hair resting on her face and _sniffed_ her. His eyes dangerously narrowed as he recognized the smell. He was about to back off when Gioia suddenly grabbed his arm, startling him. Gioia let out a cheerful "Itadakimaaaasu!" and bit into her brother's arm.

"VOIIIIIIIIII, DON'T BITE ME, YOU STUPID BRAT!"

Squalo's roar wakened Gioia and she blinked sleepily as he tore his arm away from her mouth. She gazed at him, puzzled, then smiled dreamily.

"Nii-chan, don't forget to wash your hands before eating."

And with that precious piece of advice, she collapsed on the bed and fell back to sleep right away. Squalo stared at her in astonished silence. What kind of monster was she? And what kind of monster was _he_?! Fuming, Squalo went back to the common room and pointed an outraged finger at his boss.

"You gave her _alcohol_?!"

"It would have been rude to drink by myself when she was here with me" simply stated Xanxus.

"She's _underage_!" yelled Squalo.

"As if that prevented you from drinking" snickered Xanxus.

"She's not me!" retorted Squalo.

"Get over it, trash. She didn't get sick. And I didn't give her too many drinks. I didn't know until tonight that someone could be so in love with food…" Xanxus scowled before he smirked. "She even started singing about food and dancing… if imitating vegetables counts as dancing."

Squalo's eyes twitched. He couldn't believe Xanxus had gotten his sister drunk and was now relishing the girl's behaviour. He knew his boss had little to none respect toward rules but he had hoped Xanxus was aware Gioia wasn't one of them. She was just a kid. She shouldn't have been drinking and certainly not for Xanxus' amusement.

"She's not sick _now_" insisted Squalo. "But what if she's sick tomorrow?! And you didn't know how she would react! She could have passed out if you had given her too much alcohol! That's irresponsible!"

Xanxus' eyes narrowed on his captain and Squalo knew he had gone too far.

"She's not my fucking responsibility" snarled the Varia boss. "It's not my fault if she came here and you weren't around to keep an eye on that brat. Don't put the blame on me, trash."

Xanxus left his seat and stood in front of Squalo, glaring down at him. Although Xanxus had kept his sixteen year old appearance, his aura was still menacing, if not worse than before, and Squalo unconsciously shrank under his boss' gaze.

"And don't push your luck" Xanxus said in a barely audible voice, loud with threat. "I know how you trashes failed tonight. You are lucky your sister distracted me enough not to beat the shit out of you."

Squalo gulped as he felt cold sweat trickle down his back. Without adding anything else, Xanxus headed for his private suite, leaving a slightly shaken Squalo.

"I'm not even the one who failed…" Squalo whispered.

Sulking, he went back to his room and sighed as he discovered Gioia lay sprawled on his bed. Too upset to even change clothes, he simply removed his jacket and climbed in the bed, gently pushing away his sister. He closed his eyes and after cursing his boss once again, he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Xanxus smirked. He sat at the head of the table and the sight of the two siblings was a delight. Squalo looked grumpy, shooting blameful glances at his boss while preparing some food for his sister. Gioia was slumped on her chair, head resting on the table, ravaged by hangover.

"How are you feeling, mini-scum?" Xanxus asked in a seemingly gentle tone.

Squalo frowned at him with poisonous eyes.

"Like my head is going to split…" mumbled the girl.

"You're so weak, brat" Xanxus scoffed.

Gioia finally looked up and glared daggers at him.

"Last night was pretty fun" Xanxus continued, completely ignoring her. "You were pretty convincing when you imitated a broccoli."

Gioia whined something inarticulate and hid her face in her arms.

"Stop it" growled Squalo.

"You sure?" Xanxus smiled. "Your sister babbled a lot about food but I got some information about a certain boy you might be interested in."

Squalo's mouth twitched but he didn't answer Xanxus' teasing, concentrating on pouring some medicine for Gioia who suddenly lifted her head, alarmed.

"He could be your rival."

"Boss, stop!" pleaded Gioia.

"Because he, and I quote, 'patted her head like Nii-chan does'!"

A spark of victory lightened Xanxus' eyes when Squalo looked betrayed and Gioia collapsed on the table whimpering.

"Is it true?" Squalo asked, his eyes jumping between Xanxus and Gioia.

"Why are you so _mean_?" Gioia sobbed.

Xanxus didn't answer, simply enjoying the result of his taunt. There was nothing like torturing people to lift your spirits! He was about to mention another embarrassing moment when a phone rang. It took Gioia a moment before she realized it was hers.

"Yes? Oh… Good morning, ojii-chan. Yes, I remember. I'll come right now."

She hung up and stared at the phone for a few seconds. Xanxus was tempted to tease her again but she looked slightly upset so he decided to keep embarrassing moments for future occasions.

"I have to go now. Tanaka-jiichan is waiting for me."

Xanxus slightly frowned. If he remembered well, that Tanaka was the butler who had taken care of her years ago. Although she had talked for hours the previous night, Gioia had made no mention of the old man. Now that Xanxus thought about it, the only things he had learned about her was that she loved food and had apparently a crush on a classmate. He shrugged those thoughts away and nodded when she took her leave.

"Wait!" called Squalo as she was leaving the room.

"What?"

"Did someone _really_ pat your head?"

Gioia's face turned bright red.

"None of your business!" she snapped before banging the door after her. Xanxus let out a sigh of satisfaction at Squalo's tortured expression.

* * *

Gioia knocked at the door then entered the hospital room. Tanaka warmly smiled at her and motioned her to come closer. Gioia sat next to him with a shy smile.

"You look tired" noticed the old man, concerned.

"Last night… was _difficult_" she said with a faint grimace, hoping she wasn't reeking of alcohol. Tanaka had finally called her back; she didn't want him to know she was suffering from a severe hangover. Thankfully, Squalo had given her some medicine and the throbbing headache was slowly fading away.

"Do you know what is going on, Gioia?"

The girl smiled to herself. She appreciated that Tanaka hadn't beaten around the bush and had directly asked the question.

"I do" she simply answered.

"As expected" Tanaka nodded. "Did you see your brother?"

"Yes, I actually spent the night at the hotel with them."

A look of concern furrowed Tanaka's brow.

"What do you think about the situation, Gioia?"

Gioia hesitated. Tanaka was peering at her as if expecting a particular answer and Gioia dreaded to give the wrong one. She didn't want to disappoint him.

"I don't want to be part of it" she whispered, finally saying out loud what she was thinking deep down.

"That's good news" said a voice coming from the door.

Gioia turned and frowned at the tiny figure who had entered the room unnoticed. Reborn jumped on the bed and looked intensely at Gioia.

"Do you promise to stay out of this?" he asked.

"It's none of your business" retorted Gioia.

"It _is_ my business" said Reborn as his chameleon transformed into a gun which he pointed at Gioia's head.

"Reborn, that is not necessary" intervened Tanaka in a calm voice while putting a firm hand on Gioia's arm.

"I want her to give me her word she will stay neutral" insisted the Arcobaleno. "She has to promise she won't harm Tsuna and his guardians."

"I won't!" Gioia snapped. "I know you have a low opinion of me but I'm _not_ my brother! I won't do anything to Tsuna!"

"Do you swear it?" Reborn asked once again, his gun still aimed at the girl.

"I swear" she declared, glaring at the tiny hitman.

After a moment of silence, Reborn put down his gun and the chameleon went back to his usual spot on Reborn's hat.

"I don't understand why you're threatening me" Gioia said. "You should be worried about the Varia, not me. How do you plan on keeping Tsuna and the others alive when they have to fight against the officers?!"

"Don't underestimate my student" Reborn scoffed. "I believe he can win."

Gioia stared at him in disbelief.

"You think they stand a chance against the _Varia_?"

"Actually, one of them already did."

Gioia's eyes widened in shock.

"The Sun Guardian, Lussuria, was defeated last night" Reborn said with a satisfied smile. "I made sure that each of Tsuan's Guardians had proper training. I trust both Tsuna and his Guardians. You shouldn't assume the Varia is going to win those fights easily."

Tanaka noticed a subtle change in Gioia's expression. If he was not mistaken, there was a flicker of relief on the girl's face. The old man smiled to himself.

"I have to leave now" said Reborn. "Despite what you think, I'm perfectly aware you're not your brother. However I know how much you treasure him. And that's why you represent a threat, Gioia. I wouldn't want you to take advantage of Tsuna and his Guardians if you thought your brother's life was in danger. So remember what you promised me and know that if you even attempt to lay a finger on them, I'll be coming for you."

With a last meaningful look, the Arcobaleno turned and headed for the door.

"One last thing" he said when he opened the door. "I still don't want you to tell Tsuna and the others about your true identity. And I highly advise you to be extremely careful. I'm not sure Xanxus would be happy to know you're friends with his enemies."

Gioia didn't answer and watched him close the door.

"He's right" murmured Tanaka. "You should be careful around Xanxus. Squalo would probably be mad at you if he knew but Xanxus would simply kill you on the spot."

Gioia winced at the truth of those words. So much for spending a night drinking with the Varia boss...

**_Note:_**

_I really missed writing about fun and dumb situations! I felt like my fic had lost its humour side lately... so that's why I'm trying to balance my chapters now! I hope you don't mind the return of funny stuff despite the pretty serious situation Gioia is facing! ^^_

**_Thank you so much for the reviews! And welcome to new readers! :)_**

_Thank you for reading and have a nice day! See you next chapter!_


	13. Lucky!

**Lucky!**

Gioia left Tanaka's room with a thoughtful look. She knew Reborn's threat was not to be taken lightly. The Arcobaleno probably meant every word. Plus he was also right about Xanxus. With a shudder, she imagined how furious the Varia Boss would be if he knew she was friends with Tsuna. She had to be extremely careful from now on.

She was passing the corridor when she heard a familiar sob from a room. Curious, she peered inside and gasped when she saw a completely bandaged Lussuria. Gioia hurried inside and came up to him.

"Oh, Lussu-nee! I didn't think you had been hurt _that_ bad!" she glanced at all the wounds, worried.

Lussuria, apparently too weak to even speak, could only nod and let out a heartbreaking sob.

"Your opponent didn't go easy on you…" she whispered.

Despite her concern, Gioia couldn't help being surprised at how serious the Varia officer was injured. She wouldn't have imagined that anyone in Tsuna's group would inflict such wounds. Maybe she didn't know them that well.

"No" Lussuria struggled to speak. "It wasn't him."

Gioia arched an eyebrow as Lussuria took ragged breaths to recover from the effort of uttering the short sentence.

"Who was it then?"

Lussuria just shook his head. She observed the man for a moment, racking her brains.

If it wasn't his opponent's doings, who was it? Gioia could only think about one answer. Someone from the Varia, disappointed with Lussuria's defeat, had probably punished the incompetent officer. Gioia took Lussuria's hand, feeling terribly sorry for him. Being pampered by the Varia officers, she sometimes forgot how they truly worked. The Varia gathered the most ruthless and deadliest assassins in the mafia world. There was no place for the weak. Any member who showed a sign of weakness was immediately disposed of. Regardless of how high ranked they were.

With a sad smile, she squeezed Lussuria's hand. No matter what Xanxus or her brother thought, _she_ was not part of the Varia. And she was certainly not going to let Lussuria, injured and alone in a foreign hospital.

"You know what, Lussu-nee? I think your room needs some improvement. I'll bring you flowers to add some colour. And I'll look for some good fashion magazines and skin care products for you to use when you feel better! So you hang in here, okay?"

Lussuria looked up at her with grateful eyes and Gioia smiled warmly at him.

* * *

Gioia took off her apron with a tired sigh. With all the recent commotion, it had been a relief to go to her part time job and worry about nothing but the pastries' cooking and the customers' orders. She had also received a text from Kusakabe asking her if she could prepare a picnic for Hibari for the next day. She had taken care of it during her break and was pretty satisfied with the result. She hadn't seen the Prefect since that day he had ordered to prepare his lunches and she wasn't sure what he was up to. She had visited the Discipline Committee office a few times but had only found Kusakabe and other minor members. Hibari was nowhere to be seen.

Gioia gathered her stuff, bid the Fujiwaras goodnight and left the shop, taking a deep breath of the night air. She smiled. There was something peaceful about that night that lifted her spirits.

"Oh, look who we've found!"

The familiar growling voice made Gioia jump. She turned and found herself face to face with a grinning Xanxus. The unusual wide grin on his face made her instinctively back away.

"What are you doing here, wandering at night?" he asked.

"Just leaving my part time job…" she answered, unsure.

The Varia boss was closely followed by Levi, as always, and Squalo who looked uncomfortable.

"Good" nodded Xanxus. "Let's have dinner together then, mini-scum! Come on, I'll pay for you!"

Noticing the spark of interest in Gioia's eyes, Xanxus motioned her to follow and headed to the city center with a satisfied smile. With a frown, Gioia walked by her brother's side.

"Why is he _smiling_ so much?" she said in a low voice.

"We just came from Levi's battle" explained Squalo. "He suddenly decided to show up and he confronted the other brat. That apparently made him in a good mood."

"It's creepy…" she shuddered.

"You should have seen him _laugh_" Squalo sighed.

"Laugh?" she echoed, startled. "I think the last time I heard him laugh was when he forced my head in my birthday cake…"

"That was funny" Squalo scoffed.

"Speak for yourself" she retorted in a bitter voice. "I had spent hours making that cake."

"Whatever" Squalo shrugged. "Anyway, how's school going?"

Gioia glanced at him, surprised.

"Fine" she finally answered. "It was a bit difficult at first but a friend is tutoring me so it's alright now."

"A friend?" Squalo peered at her from the corner of his eye. "A boy? Did he pat your head?"

"Cut me some slack, Nii-chan" she snapped before changing subjects. "Where's Bel? I haven't seen him for a couple of days."

"I don't know what you did to him but he's pretty upset" growled Squalo. "I wanted him to keep an eye on you but he completely refused."

"Keep an eye on me?" she repeated, her eyes dangerously narrowing at her brother. "Did you ask him to spy on me? Because of what Boss told you?!"

"Huh? No!" Squalo shouted, confused. "I actually asked him before that!"

"Why?!"

"I… I was worried" he quickly said. "About your reaction. You know, when I told you about the reason we were here. Your reaction seemed… _off_. I thought it was weird so I was wondering what was wrong with you. And I thought I'd ask Bel to keep an eye on you to be sure everything was alright."

Squalo gulped as Gioia stared intently at him. Obviously judging he was telling the truth, her anger slowly faded away.

"I'm fine" she simply said, shrugging the issue away. "I just don't want to be part of your plan."

"Good" Squalo nodded.

The siblings fell silent as they followed Xanxus who was looking for a restaurant serving steaks.

* * *

Gioia entered Yamamoto sushi shop and scanned the place for Bel. She thought the prince might be in his favourite restaurant so she had come right after school but he apparently wasn't in the mood for sushi. She knew Bel was upset because she had refused to hang out with him a few days ago. And the Prince wouldn't speak to her until she apologized. She could almost hear him ranting about her "unacceptable peasant behaviour".

With a sigh, she turned around and bumped into someone. Her heart skipped a beat when she recognized Yamamoto.

"Looking for someone?" he asked.

"Y-Yes" she quickly mumbled before internally cursing herself.

"I'm going to the dojo" he smiled at her. "Want to come along?"

At a loss of words, Gioia only nodded and followed the carefree teenager.

On their way, she listened to him blabbering about some sword technique his father had taught him. Gioia smiled to herself. She had always thought Yamamoto's father was more than he appeared but she wouldn't have imagined he was a skilled swordsman. However she doubted his technique would allow Yamamoto to defeat Squalo.

"Here we are!" announced Yamamoto when they entered the dojo.

The large room made Gioia feel nostalgic. It reminded her of when she used to spy on her brother training. She smiled when Yamamoto started trying some moves.

"Have you been training by yourself?" she asked.

"Yep!" Yamamoto grinned. "My dad showed me his technique only once then it was up to me!"

Gioia carefully observed the boy's moves.

"Your balance is slightly off" she remarked.

"My balance?" he looked at her, surprised.

"Yes. I can see it from the way you hold yourself. You must improve how you're using your weight. This way, you'll have perfect balance and it'll allow you to make swifter movements."

Yamamoto stopped and stared at her with disbelief. Suddenly realizing she must have sounded particularly judgmental, Gioia turned red with embarrassment.

"S-Sorry" she stuttered. "I just noticed it and I… Sorry."

"It's okay" chuckled Yamamoto. "I was just impressed! How come you know that much?"

"My brother is a swordsman" she said in a soft voice. "I used to observe him when he was training."

Gioia wasn't particularly good with a sword. She knew basics and could more or less defend herself with the weapon but she felt more comfortable with knives after the hours she had spent training with Bel. However, for years, she had observed Squalo training and fighting. She had also secretly attended the training sessions Squalo organized for the new Varia recruits. As a result, she had gained a particularly sharp eye when it comes to sword fighting.

"I'd like to meet your brother then!" Yamamoto said.

"I'm not sure you'd like him" she whispered.

"I'm pretty sure I would! Your brother can only be a good person, just like you" he grinned at her.

Gioia smiled, saying nothing.

"Let's work on my balance then! And please correct me when I do something wrong!"

With a determined look, Yamamoto resumed his moves.

Gioia watched him for a moment, hesitant. She wondered if helping Yamamoto meant she was betraying her brother. But as she looked at the teenager, she couldn't help thinking he had no chance against Squalo. She had already decided she was not part of the Varia and was free to do what she wanted. Even Reborn couldn't reproach her for helping Yamamoto. Resolved, Gioia decided that if she could help Yamamoto get a chance against Squalo, then she'd do it.

For a couple of hours, she watched him training hard and enthusiastically following every piece of advice she offered. He finally collapsed on the floor, exhausted, and she kneeled beside him with an encouraging smile.

"You definitely got better" she assured him.

"Thanks" he chuckled before sitting up. "I should get going. Gokudera's duel is tonight! Want to come and cheer on him?"

"Sorry, I can't" she avoided Yamamoto's questioning eyes. "I have something to do… But please tell him I'm cheering on him. And that he better win because I'm completely lost in math and I need my tutor back."

Yamamoto laughed and promised he would pass on the message. With a last grin and a slight pat on her head, he left.

* * *

Gioia jumped on her phone when it rang. She hastily opened the text and read the content.

_Gokudera didn't win but he's okay. My duel is next! Lucky!_ o(≧▽≦)o

Gioia stared at the screen, worry quickly gnawing at her.

**Note:**

_Next chapter will finally be about Squalo and Yamamoto duel :D In this chapter, I wanted to show you more about Gioia's character and I really hope I managed to do it :)_

_**Thank you very much for the lovely reviews!** And welcome to the new readers!_

_I was also wondering if there was any Harry Potter fans here? Because I started a fic and I'd be truly grateful if you could give it a try! :)_

_Thanks for reading! Have a nice day and see you next chapter! ^^_


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